Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Nic Dakin, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Nic Dakin has not been granted any Urgent Questions
A Bill to require schools in England to provide access to their premises and pupils to representatives from post-16 education establishments and others providing guidance on careers, training and courses; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to make provision to introduce free school meal arrangements for children over the age of 16 who attend colleges to bring them into line with arrangements for children who attend schools, academies and free schools; and for connected purposes
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to provide for charitable healthcare providers taking on new responsibilities from the National Health Service to be able to recover value added tax on the same non-business supplies as the NHS in respect of those responsibilities; and for connected purposes.
Driving (Persons with Dementia) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Rachel Maclean (CON)
Toilets (Provision and Accessibility) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Paula Sherriff (LAB)
Crime (Impact Statements) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Melanie Onn (LAB)
IPSA provides funding for MPs to travel in order to fulfil their parliamentary duties. This includes travel from anywhere in the UK back to Westminster, for parliamentary reasons. Following the Supreme Court’s judgement and the resumption of Parliament on 25 September 2019, IPSA also funded MPs’ travel costs from other countries where necessary, in order for them to return to Parliament.
In accordance with the Scheme of MPs’ Business Costs and Expenses, MPs have a period of 90 days from when they incur a cost to submit a claim for reimbursement, accompanied by evidence. It will therefore not be possible to assess how much money has been claimed by MPs for their travel back to Parliament as a result of the Supreme Court’s judgement until 90 days after the 25 September 2019.
The full financial cost to the House of Commons Service is not yet known as some costs such as those relating to cancelled leave will take time to confirm. In-House Services and Participation are the teams anticipated to be the most impacted in financial terms. Current estimated costs from these two teams are as follows:
In-House Services
An estimated £173k in lost banqueting sales (gross), resulting in £102k off the catering services bottom-line. This includes staff recall costs.
Participation
Estimated lost revenue of up to £50k (£44k lost ticket sales and up to £6k if the Jubilee shop remains closed or there are fewer visitors) due to the expectation that the Palace of Westminster would be closed on Saturday 12 October to prepare for State Opening.
Total costs to the taxpayer will include other costs that fall outside of the House of Commons Service, including costs for the House of Lords and IPSA (in relation to costs for MPs returning to Westminster).
The Church of England has engaged with the recent consultation from the Treasury over the future of the Landfill Communities Fund. Local churches are able to apply to the fund to support restoration, extension and repair projects.
Local parishes have benefitted from this generosity since its creation in 1996. Over its lifetime the scheme has enabled churches across the country to benefit from an approximate £75 million worth of repairs. As part of its submission the Church of England asked the Treasury to consider reducing the administrative burdens on applicants to the fund.
The Church has since received assurances that the scheme will continue and we await with interest further detailed announcements from the Treasury regarding the operation of the fund.
Officials in my Department have liaised with the Department for Work and Pensions as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.
The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance, published by DWP –
Homophobia has no place on a university campus, nor anywhere else. This is a serious matter where a zero tolerance approach is required. Universities are already tackling the issue through a range of initiatives, including working with expert organisations such as Stonewall.
Universities have duties through the Equality Act 2010 and in particular the Public Sector Equality Duty applies to publicly funded universities and requires them to have “due regard” to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation of students on the grounds of sexual orientation. Institutions themselves are responsible for making sure that their policies and practice meet their legal duties.
However, more can be done. The Department is working with Universities UK, the body that represents universities, which has established a task force to explore what more can be done by universities to address harassment. The task force, which will involve the Department along with students and relevant sector bodies, will look at harassment in all its forms whether related to gender, religion and belief, sexual orientation or disability. Although it is for the task force to decide what the outcomes will be it is likely that the focus will be on practical actions to support universities to combat these issues and to safeguard students.
The Area reviews which were announced on 20 July are primarily focused on further education and sixth form colleges to ensure that there is a high quality and financially resilient set of colleges in each area. However each review will consider a broader analysis of the wider post -16 provision including school and university offer. Under the guidance that we have published on 8 September we have set out the process and expectation that other providers, such as free schools with 16-19 provision and university technical colleges can opt in to the review process.
We expect the analysis about providers not in scope to help in wider deliberations about the area which will be considered by the Regional Schools Commissioner, local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships and of course the providers themselves
Further details on the implementation of the apprenticeships levy will be set out later this year.
The Department does not produce forecasts for Further Education & Skills learner numbers.
Owing to its historic nature, asbestos deposits are present within the Palace of Westminster. The Parliamentary Estates Directorate operates an Asbestos Management Plan which it uses to safely manage asbestos across the whole of the parliamentary estate, in full compliance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
During the successful installation of new, modern equipment in the plant room that supplies the Chamber and adjacent offices, a series of asbestos reassurance tests have been carried out. Traces of asbestos were recently found in the ventilation trunking, but extensive sampling at the vents has provided very high confidence that it is not becoming airborne.
Professor R J Willey, Managing Director of ACS Physical Risk Control Ltd has undertaken an urgent review of the evidence, and concluded: “It is my considered Opinion that, after the discovery, proper procedures were timeously followed. Detailed investigation of the results of air tests taken, over a considerable period following the discovery, show quite conclusively that there was negligible risk to any persons supplied with air from the duct system. Providing current conditions are maintained, there will be negligible risk to any persons supplied with air in the future from the duct system.”
The Commission and the House authorities regard the safety of Members, staff and the visiting public as their highest priority. Steps have therefore been taken to ensure that the ventilation system is not disturbed in any way. Steps will also be taken to eradicate the asbestos in the trunking by the end of 2015, but in the meantime we are content with this authoritative advice that there is no reason to stop using the Chamber, or the adjacent offices and spaces.
The Government is open to all ideas to improve our democratic system. However, online voting has been piloted in various countries, including the UK, and concerns have been raised concerning integrity, security and cost. Therefore, whilst online voting may be something for the Government to consider in the future, it has not been a priority in the Government’s programme.
The Skills Funding Agency does not allocate funding to specific geographical areas. The Agency allocates funding to colleges and training providers, some of whom operate on very local geographic footprints, whilst others provide training and skills services to learners and employers across the country. College and training providers are required to work with local enterprise partnerships and local stakeholders to ensure that what they deliver locally is responding to local needs.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills does not hold information on the entry criteria for higher education courses.
The DVLA pilot scheme aims to support Electoral Registration Officers in fulfilling their responsibilities for improving the accuracy and completeness of the electoral register. The evaluation will be published in due course and any considerations to extend this scheme will depend on the outcome of the pilots.
Energy intensive industries already benefit from compensation for the indirect cost of the EU ETS and the Carbon Price Floor. As announced in Budget, Government is seeking to compensate electricity intensive industries (EIIs) for the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Feed in Tariff (FiT). Government is also seeking to exempt EIIs from the costs of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) - both compensations are subject to consultation and state aid approval.
The 2016/17 timescale takes into account the time it may take EU for state aid clearance, as it took 18 months to obtain European state aid clearance for the Carbon Price Floor. Government will keep the timetable under review and press for the earliest possible resolution.
My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not received any recent direct representations from industry regarding the effect of load management on performance and industry.
National Grid recently announced two new balancing services to balance supply and demand in the coming winters. One of these, Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR), will extend existing arrangements for companies to receive payment to reduce their electricity use or switch to on-site generators for short periods when instructed by National Grid.
The latest annual report and accounts are now available on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Website. The table below shows that, during each of the last four most recently available years, conviction rates have remained stable in both magistrates’ courts and at the Crown Court.
2014-2015 | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | |
Magistrates' Courts Conviction Rate | 84.2% | 83.8% | 84.8% | 84.8% |
Crown Court Conviction Rate | 79.4% | 79.2% | 78.9% | 79.9% |
Data Source: CPS Management Information System |
Cases prosecuted at magistrates’ courts tend to comprise minor or less serious offences with a greater proportion of defendants pleading guilty (78.0% during 2017-18, compared to 70.9% at the Crown Court). By way of example, motoring cases comprise over 21% of cases in the magistrates’ courts but only 2% in the Crown Court.
In contrast, a greater proportion of cases triable on indictment at the Crown Court are serious and complex in nature, and defendants are more likely to plead not guilty. During the most recent year, 16.8% of prosecutions at the Crown Court resulted in a trial, with a conviction after contest rate of 54.0%, compared to 9.1% of magistrates’ courts prosecutions and a conviction after contest rate of 62.1%.
Whilst the Crown Prosecution Service has seen a reduction of staff, this does not necessarily correlate to the decreasing caseload. During the same period, the volume of police charged cases and referrals for pre-charge decisions has declined. Importantly, the Crown Prosecution Service has maintained its conviction rate of around 84% throughout this time.
The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and whenever appropriate the Law Officers’ Departments would follow that guidance.
Over and above routine security practices in place for vetted individuals, no further assessment has been made. In relation to the decision to prorogue Parliament, at all times the Government acted in the good faith and belief that its approach was both lawful and constitutional.
With regards to security practices, it would be inappropriate to comment on the compliance of any individual as to their National Security Vetting outside of the proper channels for doing so; these being internal to the security vetting regime. All such channels are confidential in order to ensure the integrity of the process, and the privacy and confidentiality of the subject(s).
Each Government department makes their own purchasing decisions as to which source of fuel they wish to use through Crown Commercial Service (CCS) energy framework agreements.
Current framework agreements include options to solely use renewable energy sources. A number of departments are currently supplied by 100% green energy, including DEFRA, HMT, Environment Agency, and the National Audit Office.
The National Security Vetting process does not differentiate between special advisers and civil servants. Once a candidate is cleared and commences tenure, there are a series of processes to provide assurance and periodic review, as appropriate. For security reasons, these activities are not in the public domain.
Energy is supplied by EDF Energy and British Gas (electricity) and Corona Energy (gas).
The amount of CO2 emitted is published in the department's annual report and accounts and can be found using the link below on page 21/22. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819251/CO-ARA-2018-19-Final.pdf
The Cabinet Office does not purchase its own energy and uses the Crown Commercial Services energy frameworks for supply of utilities.
Recent steps taken to reduce CO2 emissions is published in the department's annual report and accounts and can be found using the link below on page 21/22. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819251/CO-ARA-2018-19-Final.pdf
The department always considers energy saving and sustainable options when considering the undertaking of work on the estate.
Responsibility for the Ministerial Code rests with the Prime Minister. The Ministerial Code sets out the standards of propriety and behaviour expected of all Ministers and was updated and re-issued by the Prime Minister on 23 August.
The updated Code includes a new section setting out the policy for ministers taking parental leave and other extended absences from Government, as well as a number of updates, including obligations related to Cabinet confidentiality and the acceptance of foreign decorations.
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to PQ286680 9 September 2019
For National Security Vetting purposes, Government policy does not define the terms ‘overthrowing’ or ‘undermining’ in any manner more explicit than the terms already indicate. The question asked of vetting candidates refers to ‘political, industrial or violent means’ and this offers context for prospective candidates to understand what types of activities are being referred to.
There are too many hypothetical examples for a comprehensive list to be feasible. Each candidate is assessed on a case by case basis, giving due regard to the guidance offered by the classified Vetting Decision Framework. Where candidates disclose a potentially adverse association of any kind, assessment of their suitability to hold a security clearance will take into account:
the nature and closeness of the association in question;
the self-stated or privately stated aims of individuals or organisations that wish to replace the United Kingdom’s current parliamentary political system; and
the assessments of relevant agencies involved in investigating or monitoring such individuals or organisations.
An example of ‘undermining parliamentary democracy’ would be if the vetting candidate disclosed that a family member had historic links to violent extremist groups.
All civil servants and special advisers who are subject to National Security Vetting are asked the following three questions as part of the clearance process:
“Have you ever been involved in actions intended to overthrow or undermine Parliamentary democracy by political, industrial or violent means?”
“Have you ever been a member of, or supported, a group or groups involved in any of the above activities?”
“Have you ever had a close association with anyone, including a member of your family, who, to your knowledge, has been a member of or given active support to any such group or activities?”
National Security Vetting is a prerequisite for employment in a large subset of Civil Service roles, including sensitive posts and special advisers. For less sensitive roles that do not require vetting, these assurances are not asked of prospective candidates.
The Government is working hard to make sure that UK producers of steel have the best possible chance of competing for contracts.
In 2015, we introduced the steel procurement guidelines (Procurement Policy Note 16/15, revised in 2016) to level the playing field for UK steel producers by requiring public authorities to include wider social and economic benefits in their procurement decisions, not just price. This means UK firms can compete more effectively with international suppliers for major projects.
However, the Cabinet Office itself does not buy steel and consequently we will not be signing the UK Steel Charter.
We have regular discussions about the procurement of steel with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has asked all government departments to consider guidance on steel procurement and to notify of any upcoming opportunities for industry.
More broadly, the government is committed to supporting the steel sector to realise the broader commercial opportunities that are open to it, which could be worth an additional £3.8 billion a year by 2030. We are establishing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund – backed by up to £315m of investment – to help businesses with high energy use (including steel companies) to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future.
We are also providing up to £66m through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies.
Government departments continue to work throughout the year, whether or not Parliament is in recess.
Four members of the Science and Technology Honours Committee are scientists by background. Membership of the Committee can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/honours-committees.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
It is longstanding and established practice that Ministers are accompanied by officials when meeting foreign Government Ministers and officials.
This information is not held centrally.
All public authorities are required to implement government guidelines that set out how government buyers should source steel for major projects so that the true value of UK steel is taken into account in major procurement decisions.
Officials in my Department have liaised with the Department for Work and Pensions as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. This has included training officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.
The Government supports measures which help to reduce the environmental impact of appliances and earlier this year voted in favour of new EU ecodesign measures which aim to improve both the energy efficiency and resource efficiency of products, for example by requiring them to be more easily repairable.
Although the UK will not be subject to these new ecodesign rules which will take effect after we have left the EU, we intend to consult on new UK ecodesign measures, including both energy efficiency requirements and requirements on repairability.
The decision to ensure that the Department's electricity will be supplied solely from renewable resources was made in March 2019.
The Department is currently working with the Government Property Agency and Office of Government Property to contribute to a sustainable estates strategy for all Government Departments. The Office of Government Property has oversight of the government estates strategy, and BEIS colleagues will be contributing to the development of their proposals for Spending Review 2020.
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. The ability of our steel industry to compete globally and across Europe is a priority for this Government.
We have taken steps to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for the steel sector and other key energy intensive industries. This includes paying over £300m compensation to the steel sector since 2013.
We have a number of funds available to energy intensive industries, including steel, to help them increase energy efficiency and transition to a low carbon future. These funds include the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme and the recently announced £250 million Clean Steel Fund.
The ability of our steel industry to compete globally and across Europe is a priority for this Government. We therefore provide electricity cost compensation and exemption support to maintain the UK’s reputation as an attractive location for these businesses.
In 2017, the Department commissioned independent research identifying high value opportunities for UK steel, worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030(1). To access these opportunities, as well as match funding grants for R&D, significant investment will need to be made by the sector.
We have a number of funds available to energy intensive industries, including steel, to help them increase energy efficiency and transition to a low carbon future. These funds include the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme and the recently announced £250 million Clean Steel Fund.
1. Future capacities and capabilities of the UK steel industry: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-steel-industry-future-market-opportunities
We recognise that industrial consumers currently pay higher electricity prices than elsewhere in the EU. No specific assessment has been made on the impact of electricity price differential on UK steel sector’s competitiveness.
The ability of our steel industry to compete globally and across Europe is a priority for this Government. We therefore provide electricity cost compensation and exemption support to maintain the UK’s reputation as an attractive location for these businesses.
We have a number of funds available to energy intensive industries, including steel, to help them increase energy efficiency and transition to a low carbon future. These funds include the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme and the recently announced £250 million Clean Steel Fund.
With around 60 domestic suppliers in the market households can make big reductions to their bills when they switch and save. As we continue to work with Ofgem to reform the sector our price cap on standard variable tariffs protects people who can’t or don’t switch, saving them between £75-£100 per year, in addition to the protection provided by the pre-payment meter price cap.
The Government is also committed to minimising energy costs for businesses. We are consulting on the final design of the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and emissions. This is in addition to the steps we have taken to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) in sectors such as steel, plastics, cement and chemicals. This includes a package of relief for EIIs worth over £900 million since 2013 until the end of financial year 2018/19.
We have not made a specific assessment of the effect of higher electricity prices on the steel industry. The ability of our steel industry to compete globally and across Europe is a priority for this Government. We therefore provide electricity cost compensation and exemption support to maintain the UK’s reputation as an attractive location for these businesses. We also have a number of funds available, or in development, that support energy intensive industries, including steel, to help them increase energy efficiency and transition to a low carbon future. These funds include the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, the Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme and the recently announced £250 million Clean Steel Fund.
This Government is committed to delivering net zero emissions by 2050 which will require significant effort in all sectors. We are currently considering next steps in the light of the recent commitment to net zero. In power, we have made great progress in decarbonising electricity generation whilst meeting demand, and over half our electricity generation was from low-carbon sources last year, up from 23% in 2010.
As we continue to reduce emissions the exact mix of the electricity system will be affected by the approach to decarbonisation in other sectors, technology costs and the emergence of new technologies. It is not for government to prescribe the proportion of generation that will come from any specific technology in 2050; rather the role of government will be to enable the market to deliver the levels of deployment required whilst minimising both emissions and systems costs.
A diverse mix is likely to be required. We agree with the CCC Net Zero report that the falling cost of renewables means that they are likely to provide the majority of capacity in any low cost, low carbon system. Renewable generation would be complimented with firm low-carbon generation provided from sources such as nuclear and gas or biomass generation with carbon capture, usage and storage. In addition, we expect to see a significant increase in the levels of flexibility and storage in the electricity system.
We will be setting out our more detailed plans in due course in a future White Paper.
We are looking carefully at the analysis in the UK Steel report. The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. Our policies include providing electricity cost compensation and exemption support to maintain the UK’s reputation as an attractive location for energy intensive industries including steel. The £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund will also support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and emissions.
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive.
Network charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, and we continue to support Ofgem to enable all interested parties to engage in its work to reform network charging arrangements.
Our assessment is that both exempting electricity intensive industries from Capacity Market costs and providing 100% compensation for the indirect costs of carbon would not be compatible with current State aid guidelines. The Capacity Market will ensure that all energy consumers – including the steel sector – benefit from a secure and affordable supply of electricity. Eligible businesses in the steel sector already benefit from the maximum rate of compensation for the indirect costs of carbon that is allowable under current State aid guidelines. The £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund will also support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills and emissions.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
I am responding in relation the Departmental headquarters building at 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET, where most staff are based.
Energy is supplied by Corona (gas) and EDF (electricity), and the total carbon emissions for 2018/19 was 2607.31 tonnes of CO2e. The Department does not hold the figure for how much of this specifically relates to energy consumption.
The Department uses the Crown Commercial Services energy frameworks for the supply of utilities, which can be used to secure the supply of energy from renewable resources. The Department is committed to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment and achieving net zero emissions by 2025, which is why from 1 October 2019, electricity will be supplied solely from renewable resources. In addition, work is already underway to source the gas supply solely from renewable resources.
The Department has established a cross-departmental programme of measures to achieve its net zero emissions commitment, including measures to increase energy efficiency, such as: replacing all lighting with LED bulbs managed by presence and daylight-saving monitors; and the installation of a fully automated energy management system.
This Government is committed to maintaining and enhancing workers’ rights after the UK leaves the EU. The Working Time Directive is transposed into UK law through the Working Time Regulations 1998. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ensures that these and other Regulations will be retained when the UK leaves the EU.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
Between 2005 and 2010, industrial electricity prices rose by 64 per cent. Including taxes, industrial electricity prices rose from 4.77 pence per kWh in 2005 to 7.84 pence per kWh in 2010 while between 2010 and 2017, industrial electricity prices (including taxes) have risen from 7.84 to 9.79 pence per kWh.
The steel sector has received more than £291 million in compensation since 2013 to make energy costs more competitive [accurate as at 31/05/19], including over £53 million during 2018. Last year we announced the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund worth up to £315 million to support businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future and to cut their bills through increased energy efficiency.
The Department for Education’s (DfE) Employer Skills Survey provides a comprehensive picture of labour and skills shortages by sector, occupation and region across the UK. DfE is running the survey later this year, with publication expected in Spring 2020.
The Government is already working to support recruitment and training across the UK for different sectors through the Industrial Strategy. This sets out a long-term plan to boost productivity and earning power across the country, including through the four Grand Challenges, which position the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future.
Through the Industrial Strategy, we committed £406m investment in education and skills. In addition, through this year’s Autumn Budget the Government has invested over £1bn to support students throughout their education and give people the tools they need to succeed in the new economy.
Our reforms to the skills system place employers at the centre, making the system more responsive to deliver the skills employers need and which the economy demands.
The Government will decide on expenditure in the next Spending Review after EU Exit. Science and innovation have been made a priority by the UK Government and is at the heart of the Department’s Industrial Strategy, in recognition of the strong economic benefits of public investment in science and innovation and its capacity to leverage private investment. The Government is continuing to work with the steel sector, trade unions and Devolved Administrations to develop a long-term viable solution for the UK steel industry.
The Government will decide on expenditure in the next Spending Review after EU Exit. Science and innovation have been made a priority by the UK Government and is at the heart of the Department’s Industrial Strategy, in recognition of the strong economic benefits of public investment in science and innovation and its capacity to leverage private investment. The Government is continuing to work with the steel sector, trade unions and Devolved Administrations to develop a long-term viable solution for the UK steel industry.
We expect that the EU’s most favoured nation (MFN) tariff regime would apply to UK exports to the EU in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. There is no indication that the EU would modify its MFN regime as a result of our exit. Consistent with WTO rules, the EU must apply tariffs equally to imports from all countries where there is not a trade agreement or any other preferential arrangement in place. In the event of no deal, this includes the UK.
Both the UK and the EU share a strong commercial interest in preserving the integrated supply chains of the automotive and steel sectors. As set out in the Political Declaration, the UK and the EU have agreed on a free trade area for goods. This will combine deep regulatory and customs cooperation with no tariffs and no quotas, underpinned by provisions ensuring open and fair competition. We will need to agree the balance as part of the future negotiations. The Political Declaration is clear about the UK’s and the EU’s wish to be as ambitious as possible.
BEIS Ministers and officials regularly engage with the automotive industry, including bilaterals with manufacturers, interactions via trade associations, and through BEIS’s participation in the Automotive Council. This insight supports policy development within BEIS and work with other Departments. The automotive sector is a key consumer of UK steel therefore, any reduction in demand from the automotive sector would have an impact on UK steel producers. BEIS is working closely with steel producers to assess the impacts of EU Exit on their businesses, including their interaction with customers in the automotive industry. These conversations are commercially sensitive.
Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review is seeking to ensure all parties connected to the electricity network make a fair contribution to its fixed costs. As was outlined in the ‘After the Trilemma’ speech of 15 November 2018, it is important that we develop an energy system that discourages free riding and ensures a fair distribution of such costs.
Network charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, and decisions on its Targeted Charging Review are for it to make. However, Government is working to understand the wider policy implications of their proposals across a range of priorities, and expects Ofgem to take decisions in line with their primary duty to protect current and future consumers. The regular discussions which Ministers and officials have with Ofgem and other stakeholders are supporting our consideration. The analysis which Ofgem published as part of its recently closed consultation shows that the proposals could affect investment decisions across a number of technologies, but no final decisions have been taken on timing or other aspects.
Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review is seeking to ensure all parties connected to the electricity network make a fair contribution to its fixed costs. As was outlined in the ‘After the Trilemma’ speech of 15 November 2018, it is important that we develop an energy system that discourages free riding and ensures a fair distribution of such costs.
Network charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, and decisions on its Targeted Charging Review are for it to make. However, Government is working to understand the wider policy implications of their proposals across a range of priorities, and expects Ofgem to take decisions in line with their primary duty to protect current and future consumers. The regular discussions which Ministers and officials have with Ofgem and other stakeholders are supporting our consideration. The analysis which Ofgem published as part of its recently closed consultation shows that the proposals could affect investment decisions across a number of technologies, but no final decisions have been taken on timing or other aspects.
Leaving the EU with a deal remains the Government’s top priority. The Government is undertaking extensive engagement with the UK steel sector on EU Exit. Through these conversations, individual companies have informed us of actions they are taking to prepare for all eventualities but such information is clearly commercially sensitive.
We are committed to supporting vital industries in any EU exit scenario, including taking action to provide continuity for British businesses in trading arrangements wherever possible and establishing the Trade Remedies Authority to protect the steel sector and others from unfair trading practices. Extensive engagement has taken, and is taking, place between Government and the steel industry to communicate actions businesses can take in preparation and to explore the implications of different scenarios on the sector.
Our ambitious Industrial Strategy comprises policies to build an economy fit for the future, helping to foster a competitive environment where businesses can have the confidence to invest in UK steel manufacturing and thrive. We commissioned independent research to identify high value opportunities for UK steel, worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030. Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, the Government will be supporting the transformation of our foundation industries – including steel – by providing up to £66 million, subject to industry co-funding, to develop radical new technologies and establish innovation centres of excellence.
An estimate based on the latest ONS data available shows energy costs in 2016 for the manufacture of basic iron and steel in the UK at £1.5bn[1]. Eurostat data is not published at a detailed enough level to allow for a robust estimate of energy costs specific to the steel sector for different EU countries.
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive.
As announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018, £315 million is being provided for an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects to bring energy costs down for vital industries, including the steel sector. Furthermore, our Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme is now open to applications for feasibility and/or preliminary engineering studies. We will publish our response to the consultation on widening eligibility for the exemption schemes for energy intensive industries in due course.
We also continue to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key energy intensive industries. This includes a package of relief for these industries worth over £850 million since 2013, of which £271m has been provided to the steel sector in compensation as of 30 November 2018.
[1] ONS Input-Output Supply Use Tables. Data for 2016. Energy costs defined as the intermediate consumption from Manufacture of Basic Iron and Steel (24.1-3) of; Coal and lignite (05); Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas (06) + Metal Ores (07); Coke and refined petroleum products (19); Electricity, transmission and distribution (35.1); and Gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains; steam and air conditioning supply (35.2-.3).
We have taken a range of actions to reduce the cost of electricity for energy intensive industries, including a package of relief worth over £850 million since 2013, supplemented by the announcement of a £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund at the Budget.
As my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy made clear in his speech of 15th November 2018 (available on gov.uk), a full exemption from all historic policy costs for all industry would add around £1.5 billion to household bills by 2020, and any future decisions must take full account of the impacts on other bill payers.
The Government remains committed to a strong steel industry. Last year we commissioned independent research which identified future domestic market opportunities for the UK steel sector worth an additional £3.8 billion per year by 2030. In our continuing sector deal discussions, we are actively encouraging the UK steel sector to come forward with their plans to exploit these opportunities and improve their competitiveness. In parallel we are also discussing with individual steel producers their investment plans for a sustainable future. We will continue to work closely with the sector, their supply chains, the trade unions, and the devolved administrations.
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. The ability for our industries to be able to compete across Europe and globally is a priority for this Government.
As set out in the recent energy speech by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Government recognises that industrial electricity prices are currently higher than those in some competitor economies. The principles set out in the speech are intended to deliver policies that will lower the costs of the electricity system permanently and further details will be set out in a White Paper next year.
At the same time as reducing the costs of electricity production, the Government wants to increase industrial energy efficiency. As announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018, £315 million is being provided for an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects to bring energy costs down for vital industries, including the steel sector. Furthermore, our Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme is now open to applications for feasibility and/or preliminary engineering studies. We will publish our response to the consultation on widening eligibility for the exemption schemes for energy intensive industries in due course.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key energy intensive industries. This includes a package of relief for these industries worth over £850 million since 2013, of which £271m has been provided to the steel sector in compensation to the steel sector as of 30 November 2018.
We welcome the recent report by UK Steel regarding high electricity prices and will give its recommendations careful consideration.
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. The ability for our industries to be able to compete across Europe and globally is a priority for this Government.
As set out in the recent energy speech by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Government recognises that industrial electricity prices are currently higher than those in some competitor economies. The principles set out in the speech are intended to deliver policies that will lower the costs of the electricity system permanently and further details will be set out in a White Paper next year.
At the same time as reducing the costs of electricity production, the Government wants to increase industrial energy efficiency. As announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018, £315 million is being provided for an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects to bring energy costs down for vital industries, including the steel sector. Furthermore, our Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme is now open to applications for feasibility and/or preliminary engineering studies. We will publish our response to the consultation on widening eligibility for the exemption schemes for energy intensive industries in due course.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key energy intensive industries. This includes a package of relief for these industries worth over £850 million since 2013, of which £271m has been provided to the steel sector in compensation to the steel sector as of 30 November 2018.
We welcome the recent report by UK Steel regarding high electricity prices and will give its recommendations careful consideration.
The Government is committed to minimising energy costs for businesses to ensure our economy remains strong and competitive. The ability for our industries to be able to compete across Europe and globally is a priority for this Government.
As set out in the recent energy speech by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Government recognises that industrial electricity prices are currently higher than those in some competitor economies. The principles set out in the speech are intended to deliver policies that will lower the costs of the electricity system permanently and further details will be set out in a White Paper next year.
At the same time as reducing the costs of electricity production, the Government wants to increase industrial energy efficiency. As announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018, £315 million is being provided for an Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects to bring energy costs down for vital industries, including the steel sector. Furthermore, our Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme is now open to applications for feasibility and/or preliminary engineering studies. We will publish our response to the consultation on widening eligibility for the exemption schemes for energy intensive industries in due course.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for key energy intensive industries. This includes a package of relief for these industries worth over £850 million since 2013, of which £271m has been provided to the steel sector in compensation to the steel sector as of 30 November 2018.
We welcome the recent report by UK Steel regarding high electricity prices and will give its recommendations careful consideration.
The Government has taken a range of actions to reduce the cost of energy – including protecting 11 million households from poor value energy tariffs through the introduction of a price cap, and providing a package of relief for energy intensive industries worth over £850 million since 2013, supplemented by the announcement of a £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Scheme at the Budget.
In his speech of 15th November (available on gov.uk), my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy set out his strategic approach to ensure consumers get a fair deal for their energy, while opening up the market to competition.
The Government has taken a range of actions to reduce the cost of energy – including protecting 11 million households from poor value energy tariffs through the introduction of a price cap, and providing a package of relief for energy intensive industries worth over £850 million since 2013, supplemented by the announcement of a £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation Scheme at the Budget.
In his speech of 15th November (available on gov.uk), my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy set out his strategic approach to ensure consumers get a fair deal for their energy, while opening up the market to competition.
In line with the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), the Government has appointed UKRI Board members with experience across research, innovation and development, and on commercial and financial matters. This enables the UKRI Board to support and hold the organisation to account, ensuring it delivers effectively, rather than to supply discipline-specific expertise. That expertise is provided by the councils, who are uniquely positioned to understand the latest challenges and opportunities in their specific field, and they include a range of experts, including active researchers.
There are clear legal requirements on employers in relation to workplace risk assessments and women who have recently given birth. Under Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR), employers and self-employed people must assess the health and safety risks arising out of their work. Under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, employers must provide suitable rest facilities. Employers must provide suitable rest facilities for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
The Health and Safety Executive has recently completed a review of its guidance for employers and workers, including pregnant women and new mothers. The guidance, “New and expectant mothers who work”, contains a clear recommendation that employers provide a private, healthy and safe environment for nursing mothers to express and store milk. It makes clear that it is a mother’s decision whether she wishes to breastfeed on her return to work. The guidance also suggests that written notification from a woman that she is pregnant or breastfeeding can prompt the employer to revisit their risk assessment to identify if they need to do more to avoid exposing the mother or baby to risk.
The Bill, subject to the will of Parliament, will place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and defaults tariffs, so it does not remove an existing right of appeal. Energy companies would be able to challenge Ofgem’s decision on the setting of the cap by way of judicial review.
The Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill is also clear that Ofgem must have regard to the need to ensure that holders of supply licences who operate efficiently are able to finance activities authorised by the licence. It would be for the independent regulator, Ofgem, to make its assessment of efficient operations. Ofgem is not required to have regard to investment projects that are outside the scope of the activities authorised by the supply licence.
The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, so it does not remove an existing right of appeal.
Energy companies would be able to challenge Ofgem’s decision on the setting of the cap by way of judicial review, and the Government believes that a Court is capable of considering these matters.
The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, and provides a bespoke power for Ofgem to implement the price cap through an amendment to the licence conditions. Energy companies would be able to appeal an Ofgem decision on whether to proceed with the licence modification by way of judicial review. It does not remove an existing right of appeal.
As set out in the Impact Assessment for the draft Bill, the costs and benefits will depend on the detailed methodology the independent regulator Ofgem adopts to set the level of a tariff cap. The Government does not wish to pre-judge Ofgem’s work in establishing the methodology by including quantified analysis of the costs and benefits in the Impact Assessment.
As set out in the Impact Assessment for the draft Bill, the costs and benefits will depend on the detailed methodology the independent regulator Ofgem adopts to set the level of a tariff cap. The Government does not wish to pre-judge Ofgem’s work in establishing the methodology by including quantified analysis of the costs and benefits in the Impact Assessment.
The draft Bill proposes to require Ofgem to review and report on whether the conditions for effective competition are in place and to make a recommendation to the Secretary of State. This will inform the Secretary of State’s decision on whether the cap should remain in force. The first review and report would be in 2020 and each year, up to 2023, that the price cap remains in place. The first review in 2020 is to allow key reforms of the market, such as the smart meters programme, to be implemented while ensuring protection for dis-engaged consumers from poor value tariffs.
In designing the methodology for setting the level of the price cap we would expect that Ofgem would need to consider how to take account of relevant changes in costs such as for wholesale energy.
In designing the method for setting the level of the price cap we would expect that Ofgem would need to consider how to take account of relevant changes in wholesale energy prices, whilst maintaining incentives for switching and enabling effective competition.
The decision on whether to introduce a price cap will be made by Parliament approving a Government Bill on a matter that was a manifesto commitment. It is therefore right for Government to decide whether such a price cap would remain in place, after a report and recommendation from Ofgem.
Through the Industrial Strategy White paper we have announced our intention to ensure all businesses in every region have access to a ‘Growth Hub’. We will build on this programme, providing continued funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) for Growth Hubs to enable them to carry on building their reach, developing peer to peer networks and signposting businesses to the best support available from the private and public sectors.
We will confirm the level and duration of funding to be awarded to LEPs for their Growth Hubs at the earliest possible opportunity.
Through the Industrial Strategy White paper we have announced our intention to ensure all businesses in every region have access to a ‘Growth Hub’. We will build on this programme, providing continued funding to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) for Growth Hubs to enable them to carry on building their reach, developing peer to peer networks and signposting businesses to the best support available from the private and public sectors.
We will confirm the level and duration of funding to be awarded to LEPs for their Growth Hubs at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Government recognises the desire for clarity regarding the UK’s participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) as we withdraw from the EU. To provide certainty to business and others, the Government has proposed moving forward the 2018 reporting and compliance deadlines for UK participants to before the date of the UK’s withdrawal in 2019. Subject to responses from our consultation published on 6 November, we intend to have this measure in place before the end of the year.
This change will render unnecessary the alternative measures proposed in a recently agreed amendment to the EU ETS Directive, which would mean that allowances issued by the UK in 2018 would not be usable for compliance. The UK will continue to engage with the EU institutions, Member States and others to reach an agreed position.
All public authorities are required to implement government guidelines that set out how government buyers should source steel for major projects so that the true value of UK steel is taken into account in major procurement decisions.
We are currently checking that central government departments are implementing the guidelines in their procurement decisions. We have also published future steel requirements to 2020, to enable UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for government contracts.
The Government is working hard to make sure that UK producers of steel have the best possible chance of competing for and winning contracts. In April 2016, we announced a range of measures to support the industry including new public procurement guidelines to help UK steel suppliers compete effectively with international suppliers, publishing details of upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects, and setting up an approved list of steel producers to provide steel for government contracts. Following consultation, we concluded with industry agreement that a list of suppliers would not achieve the desired outcome of levelling the playing field.
We published a steel pipeline in December 2016 which shows how the Government plans to use three million tonnes of steel until 2020 on infrastructure projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2), the construction of Hinkley Point, and the maintenance and upgrading of the UK’s motorway network. We plan to publish the pipeline annually.
The use of Border Adjustment Mechanisms in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) could potentially have a number of serious negative effects on the world trade system. For this reason, the Government supports the provision of free allowances as the best way to protect industries from the risk of carbon leakage.
Last Autumn, the Government issued guidance to central government departments on how to ensure that they take full account of the value provided by UK steel producers when conducting their procurement activities. This guidance has now been extended to the wider public sector. Since publication of the guidance, Government has been working closely with departments to monitor its impact and ensure delivery. There are no plans to share this data publicly, due to its provisional nature.
The Government has just published its indicative future steel requirements to 2020, to enable UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for government contracts.
We aim to introduce an exemption for Energy Intensive Industries from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs from 1 April 2017. It is not currently necessary to allocate contingency funding for the continuation of compensation beyond April 2017.
We are engaging with the European Commission about our state aid pre-notification to move from compensation to exemption for the indirect cost of the Renewables Obligation (RO) and small-scale Feed-in Tariffs (FiT). We aim to introduce the exemption for Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) from 1 April 2017.
The Government continues to provide relief to those EIIs most affected by the rising cost of electricity and has paid over £360m in compensation since August 2013.
Updated prequalification results for the 2016 four-year ahead Capacity Market auction have been published on the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Body’s website[1]. Nearly twenty per cent of the pre-qualified capacity is new-build, and around two thirds of this is from combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs). Up to 1GW of diesel engines (existing and new) have also prequalified. The competitive nature of the auction means it is difficult to predict the specific technologies and projects that will win agreements.
On 16th November 2016, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs published a consultation on reducing emissions from Medium Combustion Plant and Generators to improve air quality[2] – the proposed limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides will apply from 1 January 2019 to any new build generator in scope of the legislation and winning an agreement in this year’s Capacity Market auction.
[1] https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/CM/prequalification.aspx
Updated prequalification results for the 2016 four-year ahead Capacity Market auction have been published on the Electricity Market Reform Delivery Body’s website[1]. Nearly twenty per cent of the pre-qualified capacity is new-build, and around two thirds of this is from combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs). Up to 1GW of diesel engines (existing and new) have also prequalified. The competitive nature of the auction means it is difficult to predict the specific technologies and projects that will win agreements.
On 16th November 2016, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs published a consultation on reducing emissions from Medium Combustion Plant and Generators to improve air quality[2] – the proposed limits on emissions of nitrogen oxides will apply from 1 January 2019 to any new build generator in scope of the legislation and winning an agreement in this year’s Capacity Market auction.
[1] https://www.emrdeliverybody.com/CM/prequalification.aspx
This procurement predates the Government’s steel procurement reforms. Since December 2015, and the publication of steel specific procurement guidance, departments including the Ministry of Defence, are now required to ensure that relevant social and economic factors are taken into account in their procurements, to help ensure UK firms can compete on a level playing field.
The management of the steel procurement process for the Successor Programme is the responsibility of the Prime Contractor, BAE Systems. The Ministry of Defence conducted a technical assessment during the tendering process to ensure bids met specifications. Overall, 85% of BAE System's supply chain for the new submarines is based in the UK. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working closely with the Ministry of Defence and the Crown Commercial Service in the implementation of steel-specific guidance on future procurements.
The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement, and has published guidelines for departments to apply on major projects when sourcing and buying steel. These requirements, which were introduced after the procurement for the Successor Programme had started, ensure social and economic factors can be taken into account when Government procures steel.
The Department’s activity to tackle climate change cuts across the work of various teams and is undertaken by officials across a number of professions, including policy advisors, scientists, engineers and economists. In addition the Department has access to a range of experts from outside the Department including academia and organisations such as the Met Office Hadley Centre. Consequently, it is not possible to provide an exact number of officials who could be called climate change experts.
I will publish further details of the Global Challenges Research Fund alongside allocation of the Science Budget shortly.
The Department’s energy is supplied by HMRC, from whom DCMS leases office space. As such we have no direct contact or relationship with any supplier.
CO2 emissions are calculated at a building level and we are unable to accurately report on the Department’s emissions. DCMS does not have control over the building wide activities of other departments based at 100 Parliament St, or policies around building sustainability made by HMRC.
We have discussed the procurement of steel with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has asked all Government departments to consider guidance on steel procurement and to notify of any upcoming opportunities for industry.
More broadly, the Government is committed to supporting the steel sector to realise the broader commercial opportunities that are open to it, which could be worth an additional £3.8 billion a year by 2030. We are establishing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund – backed by up to £315m of investment – to help businesses with high energy use (including steel companies) to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. We are also providing up to £66m through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies.
We have discussed the procurement of steel with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has asked all Government departments to consider guidance on steel procurement and to notify of any upcoming opportunities for industry.
More broadly, the Government is committed to supporting the steel sector to realise the broader commercial opportunities that are open to it, which could be worth an additional £3.8 billion a year by 2030. We are establishing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund – backed by up to £315m of investment – to help businesses with high energy use (including steel companies) to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. We are also providing up to £66m through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies.
The Department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care as the lead department on the development of the updated Nutrient Profile Model, which will be put forward for public consultation shortly.
The adoption of the model is a matter for Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has does not carry out any function requiring the procurement of steel.
Officials in my Department have liaised with DWP as the lead Department for the Family Test to embed it into the policy process. Thiscould includetraining officials on applying the Test, disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.
Levy-paying employers in England do not use digital vouchers. Employers that pay the apprenticeship levy use funds in their apprenticeship service accounts to pay for training and assessment and to transfer to other employers
In October 2019, the apprenticeships and levy statistics publication reported that there were 780 transferred commitments that have materialised into apprenticeship starts as recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) as at 31 August 2019. Of these, 20 (2.7%) were starts in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area.
Please note:
1) The figures above are rounded to the nearest 10 and percentage to 1 decimal place.
2) The percentage is derived from unrounded figures.
3) The figures above show only those transfers where a start is taking place on a standard in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area. The construction industry sector could include starts on standards in other sector subject areas (i.e. Business, Administration and Law).
We are unable to identify whether a transfer between apprenticeship service accounts was from a levy-paying company to a non-levy paying company as we do not centrally hold data on the size of employer and their industry sector. This means we cannot identify if these transfers of levy funds were to the apprenticeship service accounts of small to medium-sized employers. The Department for Education does, however, periodically perform an analysis linking ILR data to the Inter-Departmental Business Register data (held by the Office for National Statistics) to identify the size and industry sector of employers, with the most recent analysis covering the 2016/17 academic year. Thes statistics are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.
The below table shows level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. This is the latest available data, and it is taken from the ‘Apprenticeships in England by Industry Characteristics’ statistics publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics.
Table 1: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector: 2015/16 to 2016/17 | |
Academic year | Number of level 2 apprenticeship starts |
2015/16 | 19,470 |
2016/17 | 18,390 |
Notes:
1) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
We also publish apprenticeship starts by sector subject area. The number of level 2 apprenticeship starts for the sector subject area ‘Construction, Planning and the Built Environment’ for the academic years 2015/16 to 2017/18 is shown in the table below, along with starts in the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year. Data for 2015/16 to 2017/18 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804343/Monthly-apprenticeship-starts-fwk-tool_May-2019.xlsx.
Data for the first 3 quarters of 2018/19 are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814997/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-framework-standard-tool_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx.
Table 2: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in Construction, Planning and the Built Environment sector subject area: 2015/16 to Q3 2018/19
Academic year | Number of level 2 apprenticeship starts |
2015/16 | 16,670 |
2016/17 | 15,840 |
2017/18 | 14,770 |
2018/19 (August to April 19) provisional | 11,630 |
Notes:
1) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).
2) In this table, numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during the period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.
3) Apprenticeship starts include all funded and unfunded learners reported on the ILR.
4) For the 2018/19 academic year (reported to date), numbers are counted only for months August 18 to April 19 (quarter 3).
5) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.
The T level in On-Site Construction incorporates a number of occupational standards, including level 2 Bricklayer. A T level student who chooses the bricklaying occupational specialism will therefore develop many of the skills included in the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship. Once the T level qualification has been approved, we will be able to assess more accurately any differences between the competence conveyed by the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship and the T level in On-Site Construction.
Under current apprenticeship rules, a T level student would be able to progress to a level 2 apprenticeship if it allows them to acquire substantive new skills and the content of the training is materially different from their T level. The apprenticeship would need to be a minimum of 12 months in duration and involve at least 20% off-the-job training.
Our analysis of the overlap between the approved T level qualification and the level 2 apprenticeship will therefore be important in determining progression options, including eligibility for an apprenticeship at the same or a lower level.
Careers guidance is improving steadily across the country following the publication of the government’s careers strategy in December 2017. Schools and colleges are making good progress against the Gatsby benchmarks and showing improvements on every dimension of careers support. That means that young people are getting better information about the labour market, different education and training pathways and access to personal guidance to formulate ideas into a careers plan. Teachers are helping students to link their curriculum learning to future careers.
Through the Baker Clause, the department is improving the visibility and quality of advice on vocational routes by requiring schools to invite other providers to talk to students about the technical qualifications and apprenticeships that they offer.
The Careers & Enterprise Company is making sure that every young person has access to encounters with employers from a variety of sectors, which may include the construction industry. Information on a variety of careers, including construction, can also be found on the National Careers Service website.
The department promotes technical pathways, including for students interested in construction. We recently launched our T level communications campaign, aimed at young people, parents, teachers and employers. A new website (www.tlevels.gov.uk.) includes the function to search for providers delivering T levels from September 2020, including those in Construction (‘Design, Surveying and Planning’).
Apprenticeships available in the sector include Construction Site Engineering Technician, Installation Electrician and Civil Engineering Site Management. Our apprenticeships campaign, Fire It Up, demonstrates that apprenticeships are an aspirational choice for anyone with passion and energy. We have also developed Amazing Apprenticeships, a website and resource portal for schools and teachers.
In addition, we offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) project to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. During the 2018-19 academic year, the ASK programme reached over 300,000 students across 2,368 establishments and from September 2019, it has been extended to include years 7 to 9.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend, the Minister for School Standards, Nick Gibb gave on 2 October 2019 to Question 290326.
The underlying principle of an apprenticeship is that it is a job, and employers are able to create the apprenticeship starts that best meet their skills needs. It is for employers to decide which standards will help to meet their skills needs.
60% of standards are at Levels 2 and 3 and with 470 standards available, there is an offer at every level. Starts at Levels 2 and 3 still make up the vast majority of the programme (almost 82% in the first half of 2018-19).
Our reforms are supporting a healthier balance across all levels and it is encouraging to see that apprenticeships are helping people to train in skilled occupations at all levels, and progress in their careers.
We welcome the Public Accounts Committee’s recent report and were pleased that the Committee has acknowledged our focus on putting quality at the heart of our apprenticeship reforms.
The government is carefully considering the Committee’s findings and will respond in due course. We keep all aspects of our policy under review in order that apprenticeships continue to support employers in developing the skills they need to grow, in addition to offering value for money for the taxpayer.
Levy-paying employers are able to use all of the funds that they contribute to the apprenticeship levy and which are available to them in their apprenticeship service account. In addition, employers receive a 10% top-up to the funds entering their account every month which they are also able to spend on apprenticeship training and assessment.
We continue to keep all aspects of funding policy under review.
Spending on apprenticeships is demand-led. Employers can choose the type, level and quantity of apprenticeships that they offer, as well as when they offer the apprenticeships, to meet their current and future skills needs.
Between May 2017 and April 2019, levy-paying employers spent 18% of the funds available to them on the training and assessment of new apprentices. In addition, levy-paying employers will also have benefitted from ongoing funding for apprenticeships for their employees which started prior to the introduction of the levy. They will also benefit from additional payments to support apprentices employed with levy-payers (such as English and Maths teaching and payments to support disadvantaged learners), and 95% of the funding for training for any apprenticeships started once their levy funds have been exhausted.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency works closely with employers, for example through webinars and employer roadshows, to encourage them to increase the number of apprenticeships that they offer and make the most of the long-term benefits that apprenticeships can bring to their organisations. We have ongoing face-to-face support for over 1,000 of the largest levy-paying employers through our national account managers, and ongoing support via telephone for small and medium-sized enterprises to encourage them to invest their levy funds.
To further support all employers to make the long-term, sustainable investment in training, we have increased the amount that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers from 10% to 25%.
We do not anticipate that all levy-payers will use all the funds in their accounts. Income from the levy is also used to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers.
The retail framework had around 1,000 starts in 2017/18, with a further 8,300 on the new retail standards. Two of the largest supermarkets were involved in the design of these standards.
It is important to recognise that apprenticeships are paid jobs and can be subject to wider labour market and economic pressures. The impact of a number of companies closing down, online shopping and automation means that there has been a general decrease in recruitment within the retail sector.
In 2018, I hosted a roundtable with employers in the retail sector, including John Lewis and Greene King, to explore some of the challenges and opportunities for apprenticeships in retail, and we continue to work closely with employers to better understand these.
Earlier this year, I met with the British Retail Consortium, and I am in regular contact with ministers from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the issue.
We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information for the apprenticeship levy as a matter of course.
The department’s commercial activities comply with current government policy on steel procurement as set out in Cabinet Office guidance, Procurement Policy Note 11/16.
The department is happy to commit to supporting the charter where this is relevant to our commercial activities and only where consistent with the relevant regulations.
The department is reviewing the charter and the steps within it, and will discuss with other departments as appropriate in due course.
The department’s commercial activities comply with current government policy on steel procurement as set out in Cabinet Office guidance, Procurement Policy Note 11/16.
The department is happy to commit to supporting the charter where this is relevant to our commercial activities and only where consistent with the relevant regulations.
The department is reviewing the charter and the steps within it, and will discuss with other departments as appropriate in due course.
The government recognises that learning English is essential to enabling refugees to rebuild their lives. The government has committed to developing a new strategy for English for speakers of other languages in 2019. The strategy will provide a shared vision for all publicly funded English language provision, including addressing the needs of refugees and migrants. Funding for all programmes beyond 2019/20, including any potential funding for this strategy, will be set during the upcoming Spending Review.
The government recognises that learning English is essential to enabling refugees to rebuild their lives. The government has committed to developing a new strategy for English for speakers of other languages in 2019. The strategy will provide a shared vision for all publicly funded English language provision, including addressing the needs of refugees and migrants. Funding for all programmes beyond 2019/20, including any potential funding for this strategy, will be set during the upcoming Spending Review.
When employers pay the Apprenticeship Levy, their contribution (as well as a 10% top up) is made available to them via the digital apprenticeship service to spend on apprenticeships in England.
We recognise that employers want and need flexibility. Employers have 24 months to spend their levy and levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of funds to other employers.
The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds. The amount of funds entering employer’ accounts in June 2017 was £152 million, for which the expiry of unspent funds will occur at the end of June 2019.
These figures are for employers in England and include the 10% government top up. The proportion of an employer’s levy contributions made available as funds in their digital apprenticeship service account depends on how many of their employees live in England and the proportion of their pay bill paid to these employees.
Unspent funds are used to support existing apprenticeships learners, levy paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training for non-levy paying employers.
We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information on a monthly basis.
When employers pay the Apprenticeship Levy, their contribution (as well as a 10% top up) is made available to them via the digital apprenticeship service to spend on apprenticeships in England.
We recognise that employers want and need flexibility. Employers have 24 months to spend their levy and levy-paying employers can transfer 25% of funds to other employers.
The amount of funds entering employers’ digital apprenticeship service accounts in May 2017 was £135 million, of which £11 million in unspent funds expired in May 2019. This was the first month of expiry of funds. The amount of funds entering employer’ accounts in June 2017 was £152 million, for which the expiry of unspent funds will occur at the end of June 2019.
These figures are for employers in England and include the 10% government top up. The proportion of an employer’s levy contributions made available as funds in their digital apprenticeship service account depends on how many of their employees live in England and the proportion of their pay bill paid to these employees.
Unspent funds are used to support existing apprenticeships learners, levy paying employers who spend more than the funds available in their accounts and to fund training for non-levy paying employers.
We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information on a monthly basis.
The EdTech Leadership Group is due to convene for the first time before summer recess.
Members of the group have been selected on the basis of their experience and ability to influence either the education technology industry or the education sector to further the aims of the Government’s education technology strategy. Members were also selected to ensure a balance of experience between the technology industry and education sectors (ensuring representation across different age-phases of education).
The apprenticeship levy is collected by HM Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million.
Separately, HM Treasury have set the Department for Education a budget for apprenticeships in England for the current Spending Review period (to 2019-20). This budget is distinct from the levy and is not dependent on receipts from the levy. This budget is used to fund new apprenticeship starts for both levy and non-levy paying employers and must also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices that are already in training.
In 2019-20 funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion, double what was spent in 2010-11.
Currently, we expect to remain within budget in this spending review period to the end of the 2019-20 financial year. A detailed breakdown of spending for 2018-19 will be published in the Education and Skills Funding Agency Annual Report and Accounts.
The level of funding for the apprenticeship programme beyond 2019-20 will be determined by the forthcoming Spending Review.
Levy-paying employers have up to 24 months from the point at which funds enter their account to spend the funds available. The 24 month expiry period is designed to give employers time to develop their apprenticeship programmes whilst encouraging employers to take action to create new apprenticeship opportunities. Funds will only expire on a month by month basis from May 2019 if an employer has spent less on apprenticeship training and assessment in the past 2 years than the amount that went into their account in May 2017.
We do not anticipate that all levy-payers will use all the funds in their accounts, though they are able to. Income from the levy is used to fund apprenticeship training for both levy paying and non-levy paying employers.
Levy-paying employers are now able to transfer up to 25% of the annual value of their levy funds to other employers.
In May 2019, the 24-month expiry date will be reached for the earliest declared levy funds. We forecast that when the first ‘expiry’ period arrives in May, approximately £12 million pounds will remain unspent, representing 9% of the total levy funding that employers collectively paid in April 2017.
In the first half of 2018/19 academic year there have been 214,200 apprenticeship starts reported to date. Of these, 105,700 (49%) starts have been directly supported by funds from levy payer’s apprenticeship service accounts. There have also been 108,500 (51%) starts which have not been supported directly by levy funds, and the majority of these starts will be with non levy-paying employers.
We publish data on apprenticeship starts on a monthly basis at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr.
In the 2019-20 financial year, the annual funding allocated to the Department for Education for apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion. This funding is distinct from levy receipts and is used to fund new apprenticeship starts for both levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices that are already in training. It is therefore not possible to provide data on how many apprenticeship starts have been funded by unspent employer levy funds as all apprenticeship starts are funded from the Department for Education’s budget. At present, there are no plans to spend expired levy funds on programmes other than apprenticeships.
The requirement for a minimum of 20% off-the-job training is an important quality requirement and one of the core, longstanding principles of an apprenticeship.
We work with employer representative bodies to ensure policy and funding rules are well understood and to gain insight into how apprenticeships are being delivered. There are a number of employers represented on our Apprenticeships Stakeholder Board where the off-the-job training has been discussed. The effect of the 20% off-the-job training standard is frequently raised with me when I meet businesses.
We have recently issued updated off-the-job training guidance and products to support employers, training providers and apprentices to understand what good off-the-job training looks like and the benefits of it. These were developed in response to employer feedback and were tested with stakeholders prior to publication.
We continue to work with levy-paying employers to make sure that they can make the most of the opportunities that our reforms present, and we’ve responded to their feedback. In April 2019, we increased the amount that levy-payers can transfer to smaller employers or other organisations from 10 to 25% of their funds each year, helping them use their levy funds to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chain or meet local skills shortages.
The number of employer-designed apprenticeship standards available now stands at 440, giving employers more choice than ever and allowing them to spend their levy funds to develop the skills they need.
Since April 2016, we have provided ongoing face-to-face support for over 1,100 of the largest levy-paying employers through our national account managers. Since April 2018, we have extended support over the phone to a further 3,500 large levy-paying employers. Our support focuses on helping these businesses to build large-scale, high-quality programmes that deliver a return on their investment.
We have also led a major awareness-raising campaign among the remaining levy-paying employers, raising awareness of the opportunity to utilise their investment and helping them understand how to use transfers.
Since 2017, we have introduced substantial changes to the apprenticeship funding system that make it challenging to predict the proportion of levy funds that will be used this year and over the next few years.
The apprenticeships system is now employer-led and so employers can choose which apprenticeships they offer and when. This means that the use of levy funds is a matter for individual employers. We do not expect employers to use all of their levy funds, but they are able to.
The provider and employer market continues to adapt to the reforms to the apprenticeships system that were made in 2017. We have also made additional changes to funding policy this year, increasing the cap on transfers from 10% to 25% and are reducing co-investment for small employers from 10% to 5%. The effect of these changes on behaviour will only become apparent in the future.
In combination, these factors mean that it is not possible to make a single reliable estimate of future levy usage.
When the reforms were designed, we estimated that employers would use around half of the levy funds available to them, on average, once the changes to the apprenticeships programme had bedded in. However, levy-paying employers have taken on fewer starts and used a smaller proportion of their levy funds than anticipated. Nevertheless, we expect employers to use an increasing proportion of their levy funds as they continue to develop their use of apprenticeships, and as a consequence of employers choosing more higher-cost, higher-level apprenticeships since 2017.
The forthcoming Spending Review, announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer at Spring Statement, will determine the level of funding for the apprenticeship programme from April 2020. As part of this process we will consider any changes that may be required to future funding arrangements, and the impact this might have on employers’ use of their levy funds. Until then it is not possible to estimate employers’ use of their levy funds from 2020 onwards.
In forecasts made before the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, it was anticipated that employers would use 13% of the levy funds available to them in the 2017-18 financial year. Data from the apprenticeship service show that employers used 9% (£191m) of the funds available to them in 2017-18.
Our annual budgets for the current Spending Review period (to the end of the 2019-20 financial year) were set to fund 3 million high quality apprenticeship starts by 2020, based on the mix of training levels and subjects that we expected employers to choose.
The apprenticeship levy helps to fund all apprenticeships for levy and non levy-paying employers. At the time that the levy was introduced, it was anticipated that a proportion of levy funds would remain unspent by employers. We have anticipated that employers will not use all the funds available to them, though they are able to.
The annual apprenticeships budget, set in advance by HM Treasury, is not dependent on levy receipts and must fund all learners in the system. When allocating this budget to fund apprenticeships, we included sufficient flexibility to accommodate variations in the level of employer demand.
In the first half of 2018/19 academic year there have been 214,200 apprenticeship starts reported to date. Of these, 105,700 (49%) starts have been directly supported by funds from levy payer’s apprenticeship service accounts. There have also been 108,500 (51%) starts which have not been supported directly by levy funds, and the majority of these starts will be with non levy-paying employers.
We publish data on apprenticeship starts on a monthly basis at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr.
In the 2019-20 financial year, the annual funding allocated to the Department for Education for apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion. This funding is distinct from levy receipts and is used to fund new apprenticeship starts for both levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices that are already in training. It is therefore not possible to provide data on how many apprenticeship starts have been funded by unspent employer levy funds as all apprenticeship starts are funded from the Department for Education’s budget. At present, there are no plans to spend expired levy funds on programmes other than apprenticeships.
In 2015 we set an ambitious goal of 3 million high quality apprenticeships by 2020 and that remains our ambition, but we will not sacrifice quality to meet this figure. We have introduced a wide range of reforms to apprenticeships to improve their quality and to encourage employers across England to increase the number of apprenticeships that they offer.
There have been 1,709,500 apprenticeship starts in England between May 2015 and January 2019.
We regularly report on progress toward the target in our apprenticeships and traineeships publications, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.
To support all employers to make the long-term, sustainable investment in training, in April 2019 we halved the co-investment rate from 10% to 5% for new starts and have increased the amount that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers from 10% to 25%.
We are working to raise awareness of apprenticeships across the country and the benefits that they bring to both employers and apprentices. Our ‘Fire It Up’ communication campaign seeks to change the way that people think about apprenticeships and to demonstrate that apprenticeships are an aspirational choice for anyone.
Our reforms allow employers to choose the type, quality, level and frequency of apprenticeships that they offer in order to meet their current and future skills needs.
Level 2 and 3 apprenticeships play an important role in meeting these needs as well as providing valuable opportunities for individuals. Apprenticeships at these levels still account for the vast majority of apprenticeship starts. For example, in the first half of 2018/19, there were nearly 175,000 starts at levels 2 and 3, which represents 82% of total starts for the period.
There are now 440 industry-designed standards, of which 269 are at levels 2 and 3, meaning there are apprenticeship opportunities at all levels. During the first half of 2018/19, nearly 60% of starts were on these new standards. We can see that employers are moving quickly to this new higher quality offer.
We have implemented a range of reforms to ensure more high quality apprenticeship opportunities, including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, new funding system and industry-designed standards. Our reforms are still relatively recent and it will take time for the full benefits of the apprenticeships programme to be realised.
Our apprenticeships reform programme benefits realisation strategy, published in March 2017, sets out a broad range of performance measures for the programme. Measures include the number of apprenticeship starts, earnings upon completion, results from employer and learner surveys and the Further Education (FE) Skills Index, which is a measure of the productivity impact of the programme over time.
The Skills Index enables us to compare the value of skills investments across the FE sector, including apprenticeships. The Skills Index looks at the number of learners and the employment rate for those learners as well as expected additional earnings. We have added a value of 2% to apprenticeships between the 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic years which we attribute to an increased volume of advanced and higher apprenticeship achievers as well as a small shift towards sectors with higher wage returns.
We publish annual updates against our progress. Our last update, published on 30 April 2019, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-reform-programme-benefits-realisation-strategy.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not require levy-paying employers to document their industry sector when registering an apprenticeship service account, neither does it require employers who do not pay the levy to register an industry sector before training their apprentices.
For the period covering the 2012/13 to 2016/17 academic years, the Department for Education used the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) matched with the Inter-Departmental Business Register to determine the number of apprenticeship starts in each industry sector. This information is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics. Figures for the 2017/18 academic year are planned to be published in Autumn 2019.
The department also uses data from the apprenticeship service and the ILR to obtain figures on the number of levy and non-levy supported apprenticeship starts broken down by apprenticeship sector subject area. The latest statistics covering sector subject area breakdowns for apprenticeship starts are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr.
Successful completion of the level 7 Senior Leader standard may lead to either of the three qualifications: MA, MSc or MBA.
The total percentage spend by both levy and non-levy employers on the level 7 Senior Leader apprenticeship standard for the past 2 financial years is below:
Year | Standard | Percentage |
2017-18 | Senior Leader level 7 Standard | 0.02% |
2018-19* | Senior Leader level 7 Standard | 0.51% |
|
| TOTAL : 0.28% |
*2018-19 is provisional data.
The figures are based on the number of all apprenticeship starts for the level 7 Senior Leader apprenticeship standard by levy and non-levy employers against total apprenticeship spend for both financial years.
Details of the Senior Leader standard can be found on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s website at: https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/senior-leader/.
The new 30-band funding structure was introduced on 1 August 2018 for all new apprenticeship starts. Details can be found within ‘Apprenticeship Funding in England’ published on GOV.UK, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/788312/Apprenticeship_funding_in_England_from_April_2019.pdf.
These bands range from £1,500 to £27,000 and set the maximum price that the government will contribute towards the training and assessment for an individual apprenticeship.
The funding band upper limit of £27,000 is the maximum amount of government funds that levy-paying employers can draw down from their apprenticeship service accounts to put towards the cost of an individual apprenticeship.
For non-levy-paying employers, at least 95% of the apprenticeship training and assessment costs will be paid for by the government, up to the agreed funding band limit.
We know that some employers will wish to use specific delivery models or provide additional training to their apprentices, which goes beyond what is set out in the standard. Employers are free to agree a price above the funding band upper limit but must pay for any additional costs above this.
The apprenticeship levy is collected by HM Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million.
Separately, HM Treasury have set the Department for Education a budget for apprenticeships in England for the current Spending Review period (to 2019-20). This budget is distinct from the levy and is not dependent on receipts from the levy. This budget is used to fund new apprenticeship starts for both levy and non-levy paying employers and must also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices that are already in training.
In 2019-20 funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion, double what was spent in 2010-11.
Currently, we expect to remain within budget in this spending review period to the end of the 2019-20 financial year. A detailed breakdown of spending for 2018-19 will be published in the Education and Skills Funding Agency Annual Report and Accounts.
The level of funding for the apprenticeship programme beyond 2019-20 will be determined by the forthcoming Spending Review.
HM Treasury provides the Department for Education with a fixed annual budget for apprenticeships, separate from employers’ levy funds. This budget covers the costs of existing apprentices and new apprenticeship starts for all employers, as well as the running costs of the programme.
The amount spent on apprenticeships starts with all employers, by level, between the introduction of the levy in May 2017 and February 2019, is set out in the attached table. The amount spent in levy-paying employers is given separately. Both sets of figures include payments for additional support to learners, such as for English and maths training.
From the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in May 2017 to the end of January 2019, the most recent month for which data are available, levy-paying employers utilised £601 million of the funds available to them to pay for apprenticeship training in England. This represents 15% of the total funds entering employers’ accounts in the same period (£3,905 million). The total drawdown of £601 million does not include other costs, such as incentives and additional payments for disadvantaged apprentices.
Once levy funds enter employers’ accounts, they can be used to pay for training for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. We don’t anticipate that all levy-payers will use all the funds in their accounts, though they are able to. Income from the levy is also used to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers.
The requirement for a minimum of 20% off-the-job training was introduced to the funding rules in May 2017 alongside other elements of our apprenticeship reforms – including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. It is not possible to evaluate in isolation the effect of 20% off-the-job training on level 2 apprenticeship starts.
The apprenticeship levy is collected from employers by HM Revenue and Customs.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not require levy-paying employers to register an industry sector when registering an apprenticeship service account and is therefore unable to supply the information on apprenticeships spending by the retail sector since 2017.
Research published in 2015 demonstrates the high level of return to investment delivered by the apprenticeship programme. Apprenticeships at level 2 and level 3 deliver £26 and £28 of economic benefits respectively for each pound of government investment. This can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/435166/bis_15_323_Measuring_the_Net_Present_Value_of_Further_Education_in_England.pdf.
In October 2018, we published our Further Education: Outcome Based Success publication 2010/11 – 2015/16, which covers the destinations (into employment and learning), earnings and the progression of learners: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-outcome-based-success-measures.
The publication reveals the average earnings, by level, of those who achieved an apprenticeship in 2015/16, one year after completion:
Over the past few years we have introduced major reforms to apprenticeships. As the system is still adapting, it is too early to know the full economic and earnings benefits that these changes will bring.
Our Apprenticeships Reform Programme Benefits Realisation Strategy, published in March 2017, sets out a broad range of success measures for the programme. We publish annual progress updates, of which the most recent can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707896/Progress_report_on_the_Apprenticeships_Reform_Programme_May_2018.pdf.
We will be publishing our 2019 update shortly.
Employers’ levy funds are available for them to use to cover the cost of the training and assessment of their apprentices. Employers have 24 months to spend their funds from the point they enter their accounts. These funds are not used to support the administrative costs of the system.
Separate to this, HM Treasury provides the Department for Education, including the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute), with fixed annual administration and programme budgets.
In 2017-18, the ESFA spent £36 million (equating to less than 2 percent) of the £2 billion apprenticeships programme budget on the cost to deliver and run the programme. In addition, the Institute spent £3.8 million programme budget on running the programme.
The Department for Education (including the ESFA and the Institute) are also provided with administration budgets. In 2017-18, the administration spend was approximately £6.4 million in the department, and £33 million in the ESFA. This includes an estimate of the proportion of departmental overhead costs attributable to the apprenticeships programme. In addition, £4.6 million related to administration spend for the Institute.
The department will publish spending on the running costs of the programme for 2018-19 in its annual report and accounts.
The department does not produce forecasts for apprenticeship starts by level. Apprenticeships are paid jobs and their availability is dependent on employers offering opportunities and hiring apprentices to meet their skills needs; employers can choose which apprenticeships they offer, how many and when.
The apprenticeship levy is collected by HM Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million. In the 2019/20 financial year, it is forecast that UK employers will pay £2.8 billion into the levy. Forecasts for future levy receipts are published by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and updated monthly and they can be found here: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-fiscal-outlook-march-2019/.
The amount raised by the levy is distinct from the Department for Education’s ring-fenced apprenticeship budget, which is set to fund apprenticeships in England only. The budget has been set in advance by HM Treasury for the current spending review period which runs until the end of 2019/20.
In 2019/20, over £2.5 billion will be available for investment in apprenticeships in England. Currently, we expect to remain within budget in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 financial years. The level of funding for the programme beyond 2020 will be determined by the forthcoming Spending Review.
The government believes it is vital students can access detailed and accurate information on the potential outcomes of higher education when making decisions about their future.
The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey is a valuable source of information on the activities of students 6 months after they graduate and is used widely by students, the sector and government. It is overseen by the Higher Education Statistics Agency who in 2017 announced the replacement of DLHE with a new Graduate Outcomes survey. The new survey focuses on outcomes 15 months after graduation, and so will provide a longer-term view of graduate destinations. It uses a centralised collection system with the intention of improving consistency and robustness. Results of the first Graduate Outcomes survey for 2017/18 leavers will be published in 2020.
Further information on the new graduate outcomes survey can be found here:
The government believes it is vital students can access detailed and accurate information on the potential outcomes of higher education when making decisions about their future.
The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey is a valuable source of information on the activities of students 6 months after they graduate and is used widely by students, the sector and government. It is overseen by the Higher Education Statistics Agency who in 2017 announced the replacement of DLHE with a new Graduate Outcomes survey. The new survey focuses on outcomes 15 months after graduation, and so will provide a longer-term view of graduate destinations. It uses a centralised collection system with the intention of improving consistency and robustness. Results of the first Graduate Outcomes survey for 2017/18 leavers will be published in 2020.
Further information on the new graduate outcomes survey can be found here:
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) publishes details of apprenticeships spend in its annual reports and accounts. Overall spend for the last 3 financial years can be found at the following links: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727363/ESFA_ARA_2017-18_WEB.pdf, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630972/2016_to_2017_SFA_ARA_web_version.pdf and https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630097/EFA_2016-17_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_PRINT.pdf.
The ESFA does not publish spend by level of apprenticeship. Spending on the apprenticeship programme is demand-led and employers can choose the amount, frequency and level of apprenticeships that they offer.
The following table provides an estimate of spend at level 2, level 3 and level 4 and above in each of the last 3 financial years alongside total published spend.
Estimated apprenticeship participation spend by level from 2015-16 to 2017-18 (in millions of pounds)
Financial year | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4+ | Participation spend | Total published spend |
2015-16 | £756 | £638 | £47 | £1,441 | £1,540 |
2016-17 | £771 | £686 | £75 | £1,533 | £1,632 |
2017-18 | £672 | £724 | £126 | £1,522 | £1,580 |
The analysis provided is based on provider earnings data taken from the Individualised Learner Record and adjusted proportionately to match participation spend figures. The amount that providers claim in earnings may differ from the amount that the provider is paid following reconciliation. These estimated spend figures will therefore not fully align with actual spend. Total spend, published in the ESFA annual report and accounts, which includes participation and non-participation, is provided alongside for reference.
The total funding allocated for the large programme uplift since its introduction in the 16 to 19 funding formula in 2016/17 has been as follows:
Academic Year | Large Programme Funding |
2016/17 | £8.14 million |
2017/18 | £7.75 million |
2018/19 | £7.24 million |
The Department is committed to ensuring that all children, regardless of background, have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. There are currently no plans to update the document, Teachers’ Standards: Guidance for school leaders, school staff and governing bodies. The document does reflect the needs of looked after children by setting out the expectation for teachers to: have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn and; have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.
Further information, including the reports of the independent review of the Teachers’ standards, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/teachers-standards.
The information requested is not held centrally. The department does not collect information regarding such subsidies.
In December 2017 the Department announced that, when the opportunity arises, it intends to amend the School Admissions Code to require admission authorities to give children who were previously in state care outside of England highest priority for admission into school.
Until such time when the relevant changes to the Code can be made, admission authorities have been asked to use their current flexibilities in setting their own admission arrangements to grant such children second highest admissions priority in their oversubscription criteria.
To further encourage admission authorities to make this change, additional advice was issued about this matter to all local authorities, with a request that it is circulated to all own admission authorities in their respective areas in August 2018.
Following the conclusion of the 2017/18 academic year, we require teacher training providers to complete a rigourous financial assurance exercise to demonstrate that they have properly administered training bursary funding on behalf of the Department. This exercise will be complete at the end of the 2018-19 financial year, at which time finalised spend figures will be available.
There are no plans to amend the eligibility criteria for the basic maths Centres for Excellence programme. The Centres for Excellence programme will build on the success of the Maths Hubs model in schools, adapting it to improve the quality of teaching post-16.
The eligibility criteria is for institutions to have a minimum of 250 maths students with prior attainment below a grade 4 included in the maths progress measure. This will make sure institutions have a substantial number of students at the end of their 16-19 study programme who have directly benefited from the programme as they work towards achieving a GCSE standard pass in maths. We view this as an important criterion as we trial teaching approaches and evaluate their impact on the quality of teaching and learning over the length of the study programme to inform a wider rollout.
We have allowed and have actively encouraged institutions to partner up to be Centres for Excellence through consortium bids. This will also serve to encourage improved networking between a mix of institutions and institution types with a shared goal of improving maths teaching and attainment.
Spend on teacher bursaries is determined by the number of trainee teachers recruited annually. As recruitment varies year-on-year it is difficult to accurately predict expenditure when budgets are set, which means that underspends and overspends often materialise. All underspends are collected centrally and targeted towards high-priority areas of education spending.
The Department is currently undertaking detailed analysis of teacher training and school workforce data to explore the proportion of bursary holders awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) and the progression of bursary holders into the state funded workforce in England. This will include analysis of employment and retention rates by trainee bursary status (whether a trainee received a bursary), and whether the subject for which a trainee received a bursary is the subject they go on to teach. The Department intends to publish this analysis later in the year.
Table 8 of the School Workforce Census 2017 includes analysis of teacher retention rates over time, but this data is not currently available by subject and does not consider whether the teacher received a bursary during teacher training. This table is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2017.
Whilst not a direct measure of retention, the Department has recently published new analysis of employment rates of trainees awarded QTS in state-funded schools in England. This analysis does not consider whether a trainee received a bursary during their teacher training, but does include employment rates by subject in Table T1.4 of the Teacher Analysis Compendium (February 2018) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/teachers-analysis-compendium-3. Analysis of teacher wastage rates can also be found by subject in Tables T2.1 to T2.4 of the Teacher Analysis Compendium (May 2017) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/teachers-analysis-compendium-2017.
The Department is piloting a phased bursary for mathematics trainee teachers starting initial teacher training in the 2018/19 academic year, which comprises a lower bursary upfront followed by two additional early-career payments once in teaching. The pilot will test whether this approach secures a greater supply of teachers than the upfront bursary.
The Department is currently undertaking detailed analysis of teacher training and school workforce data to explore the proportion of bursary holders awarded qualified teacher status (QTS) and the progression of bursary holders into the state funded workforce in England. This will include analysis of employment and retention rates by trainee bursary status (whether a trainee received a bursary), and whether the subject for which a trainee received a bursary is the subject they go on to teach. The Department intends to publish this analysis later in the year.
Table 8 of the School Workforce Census 2017 includes analysis of teacher retention rates over time, but this data is not currently available by subject and does not consider whether the teacher received a bursary during teacher training. This table is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2017.
Whilst not a direct measure of retention, the Department has recently published new analysis of employment rates of trainees awarded QTS in state-funded schools in England. This analysis does not consider whether a trainee received a bursary during their teacher training, but does include employment rates by subject in Table T1.4 of the Teacher Analysis Compendium (February 2018) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/teachers-analysis-compendium-3. Analysis of teacher wastage rates can also be found by subject in Tables T2.1 to T2.4 of the Teacher Analysis Compendium (May 2017) is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/teachers-analysis-compendium-2017.
The Department is piloting a phased bursary for mathematics trainee teachers starting initial teacher training in the 2018/19 academic year, which comprises a lower bursary upfront followed by two additional early-career payments once in teaching. The pilot will test whether this approach secures a greater supply of teachers than the upfront bursary.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has made it his top priority to ensure teaching remains an attractive and fulfilling profession.
In addition to a £30 million investment in tailored support for the schools that struggle the most with recruitment and retention, the Department offers several other financial incentives to encourage the recruitment of high quality graduates into teaching. These include; tax-free bursaries, worth up to £26,000 for priority subjects and tax-free scholarships of up to £28,000 in five subjects. The Department is piloting a new approach for mathematics trainee teachers in 2018/19, which tests whether offering some of the bursary once the teacher is employed is effective in incentivising both recruitment and retention. The Department recruited more trainee teachers in 2017/18 than in 2016/17 (a 3% rise).
The table shows the budget and the actual spend for training bursaries in each of the last three complete financial years along with the value of any underspend. These figures take account of the income generated by recovery of unused funding in respect of trainees who withdrew or deferred from training each year as identified through routine assurance processes. The financial year 2017-18 figure consists in part of financial information relating to the 2017/18 academic year, which is yet to conclude, and is subject to further routine assurance before being finalised.
Financial year | Total amount spent on bursaries | Total budget | Underspend |
2015-16 | £163,730,014 | £161,544,000 | (£2,186,014) |
2016-17 | £184,166,893 | £188,755,000 | £4,588,107 |
2017-18 | £183,327,995 | £224,094,000 | £40,766,005 |
The Department is committed to ensuring that we recruit the best graduates into the teaching profession, which is why generous bursaries and scholarships are offered to trainees in priority subjects. In addition to this, teachers will benefit from the newly announced student loan repayment threshold rise and, from September 2018, the Department is piloting a new programme to reimburse student loan repayments for languages and science teachers in the early years of their careers.
The Department is developing a recruitment and retention strategy which will make recommendations on the best way to attract graduates into the teaching profession, and will publish the outcomes of this in due course.
The Department uses the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) to estimate, at a national level, the number of postgraduate trainee teachers required each year.
In 2017/18 more trainees were recruited than in the previous year, but despite our improved performance, we fell short of the TSM target by 10%.
The growing pupil population in recent years has seen targets rise; for 2017/18 the target grew by 6% from the previous year. The 2018/19 TSM target has increased further by 4%.
The Department recognises the scale of the challenge this presents, which is why generous tax-free bursaries and scholarships worth up to £28,000 for trainees in priority subjects continue to be offered for 2018/19. The Department has also expanded the number of subjects in which schools and universities can recruit without centrally imposed limits, meaning that no good candidate should be turned away owing to the lack of a place.
Following extensive analysis and stakeholder engagement, the Independent Panel on Technical Education led by Lord Sainsbury, identified that four technical routes would be better suited to delivery via work-based training (apprenticeships), rather than classroom-based provision (T Levels). These were ‘Transport and Logistics’, ‘Sales’, ‘Marketing and Procurement’, ‘Social Care’ and ‘Protective Services’. The government accepted these recommendation and these routes formed the basis for developing the occupational maps, which are now owned by the Institute for Apprenticeships.
T Levels will not be available in all areas for which vocational qualifications currently exist. This is because some occupations are more suitable for delivery through an apprenticeship. However, our review of level three qualifications – confirmed in the recent response to the T Level consultation – will be comprehensive, and will ensure that there is continued provision where there is a genuine need for a qualification. For example, where they serve a genuine and useful purpose, are of a high quality and enable students to progress to meaningful outcomes.
We recognise that, as is the case for current provision, some students will choose to change T Levels after starting their course. We want to ensure that T Level courses accommodate this flexibility.
We will be working with the providers of the first T Levels in 2020/21 and 2021/22 to explore how courses could be designed which allow students to change to another T Level early on in the course without it affecting their progress. The core component of the T Level includes content common across all T Levels within a route, which will help when students move between courses. Where students transfer onto another T Level within the same route, where possible, we will make sure that if they have already attained the core component and this is recognised in their new T Level.
Once T Level content is finalised, we will work with higher education providers to identify where a bridging provision may be needed, to allow students to progress from T Levels to an academic route should they wish to do so.
T Levels are much broader in content than apprenticeships. Students will learn about a range of different occupations in the sector and develop skills common to each, meaning they will have more options and scope to move occupations once in work.
We are already communicating with the education sector and employers to increase awareness and understanding of T Levels. As we move towards the first teaching of T Levels in 2020, the scale and pace of this communication will increase to make sure that parents, teachers, students and careers professionals know about T Levels and when they will be available.
Schools are legally responsible for providing independent careers guidance for all year 8-13 pupils on the full range of education and training options, including further technical education and apprenticeships. The government’s careers strategy sets out how we will go further to make sure that young people can talk regularly to employers and training providers to inform the decisions that they make at important transition points. The strategy includes new legislation, introduced in January 2018, which requires all maintained schools and academies to make sure that there is an opportunity for a range of providers to talk to year 8-13 pupils about approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. Further information about the new law can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/skills-minister-highlights-new-provider-access-law-for-schools. The Careers & Enterprise Company are also building on their network of Enterprise Coordinators, Advisors and Cornerstone Employers.
The careers strategy makes clear that personal guidance from a qualified practitioner is important to help individuals make informed choices about their education, training and careers.
Secondary schools and colleges are responsible for making sure their students receive independent careers guidance with a qualified careers adviser whenever significant study or career choices are being made. We recognise the value of personal guidance and expect all schools to work towards meeting the eight Gatsby Career Benchmarks by the end of 2020. The benchmark on personal guidance advises that all young people should have a careers interview by the age of 16, and the opportunity for one further such interview by age 18.
To target support for those who need it most, the government has announced £2.5 million of funding for new innovative, cost effective models, for delivering personal careers guidance in schools and colleges. The funding will be used for personal guidance for young people, the training and ongoing continuing professional development of career guidance professionals and the development of a pipeline of qualified career guidance professionals for the future.
The government’s careers strategy is clear that personal guidance is an important element of a high quality careers programme in schools. The government expects all schools to work towards meeting the eight Gatsby Career benchmarks by the end of 2020. The Gatsby benchmark on personal guidance advises that all young people should have a careers interview by the age of 16, and the opportunity for one further such interview by age 18. This will make sure that all young people have opportunities for personal guidance with a careers professional whenever significant study or career choices are being made.
The Career Development Institute (CDI) is doing excellent work to put in place programmes to train and upskill careers professionals, including a new focus on digital skills. The government’s careers statutory guidance encourages schools to search for qualified careers practitioners in their area on CDI’s UK Register of Career Development Professionals.
We are investing £2.5 million to support the development of new cost-effective models for delivering personal guidance to clusters of schools and colleges. The funding will support the provision of personal guidance to young people, the training and ongoing continuing professional development (CPD) of career guidance professionals and the development of a pipeline of qualified career guidance professionals for the future. The Careers & Enterprise Company will shortly publish a prospectus setting out more details. These projects, and the resulting case studies, will be used to showcase successful and affordable delivery of the Gatsby benchmark on personal guidance.
Swimming and water safety is compulsory in Physical Education (PE) at primary level.
There are no current plans to review the PE national curriculum requirements, which can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-physical-education-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-physical-education-programmes-of-study#swimming-and-water-safety.
The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) criteria require that all accredited providers of ITT design their programmes to enable trainee teachers to meet the standards for Qualified Teacher Status which specify that trainees must demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge across the relevant subjects and curriculum areas. For primary teacher trainees this will include PE, of which swimming and water safety are integral to the programmes of study. The department does not set a minimum amount of training time for individual subjects for courses of ITT. This gives providers flexibility to design their programmes in a way that works best for them and for their candidates.
The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework does not mandate swimming, however it does set out that early years practitioners should support children to know the importance of physical exercise for good health. It is up to early years practitioners to determine how they should help children to achieve this goal.
The Advanced Maths Premium provides schools and colleges with £600 per year for every additional pupil studying advanced mathematics post-16. It is a short term measure to support schools and colleges to tackle the barriers to increasing participation particularly in areas where take-up is currently low. This approach aims to support and encourage schools and colleges to continue to expand their mathematics curriculum above current levels.
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the Member for Scunthorpe and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The Careers & Enterprise Company recently published its ‘State of the Nation 2017’ research paper which is available at www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploaded/careers-enterprise-compass-state-of-the-nation.pdf. The paper, which was published in conjunction with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, showed that 51% of schools had met two or more Gatsby benchmarks. Over 79% of schools met one or more benchmark. These figures are based on the secondary schools that took part in the self-assessment exercise.
The Careers & Enterprise Company will publish this report annually to show what progress schools have made in meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks. As the Minister responsible for careers, I will have regular and frequent meetings with stakeholders to make sure progress continues.
The government’s careers strategy, published on 4 December 2017, sets out a long- term plan to build a careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them.
The strategy provided £5 million of funding to test 20 career hubs linking together schools, colleges, universities and other local organisations. We are investing over £70 million on careers each year until 2020 to support young people and adults. Future investment on careers, as with all departmental expenditure, will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.
To target more support on those who need it most, the government has announced a further £5 million investment fund in 2018-2019. The fund will be split as follows:
More information about careers hubs and the investment fund can be found in The Careers & Enterprise Company’s implementation plan: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploaded/careers-enterprise-careers-strategy-implementation-plan.pdf.
Further information, including prospectuses inviting bids, will be published by The Careers & Enterprise Company in Spring 2018.
The government’s careers strategy, published on 4 December 2017, sets out a long- term plan to build a careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them.
The strategy provided £5 million of funding to test 20 career hubs linking together schools, colleges, universities and other local organisations. We are investing over £70 million on careers each year until 2020 to support young people and adults. Future investment on careers, as with all departmental expenditure, will be considered as part of the next Spending Review.
To target more support on those who need it most, the government has announced a further £5 million investment fund in 2018-2019. The fund will be split as follows:
More information about careers hubs and the investment fund can be found in The Careers & Enterprise Company’s implementation plan: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploaded/careers-enterprise-careers-strategy-implementation-plan.pdf.
Further information, including prospectuses inviting bids, will be published by The Careers & Enterprise Company in Spring 2018.
Secondary schools and colleges are responsible for making sure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), receive high quality careers information, advice and guidance. We revised our statutory guidance for schools in January 2018 to make clear that schools should follow the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s benchmarks of excellent careers provision. Our guidance includes advice for schools to help them make sure that all pupils, including those with SEND, are supported to fulfil their potential.
The government’s careers strategy contains a number of proposals to improve careers advice for pupils with SEND, including:
We will also be funding grants to establish good practice in innovative ways of working with young people with SEND and their parents, to inspire them to look at broader careers and further education options.
To observe transitions between education and employment, the Department for Education relies on data matching between its own administrative sources on educational activities and other data held by Her Majesties Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, and local authority data.
Outputs from the matched data have been successful in showing the positive outcomes of learners who have recently completed education, without placing any additional burden on schools or other education providers.
Outcomes for school and college students reaching the end of key stage 4 (KS4) (compulsory schooling) and key stage 5 (KS5) (16 to 18 study) are published in the publication ‘Destinations of KS4 and KS5 pupils’, which uses a concept of sustained destinations (to education, any employment or training) in its measures. Students are counted in the employment category only if they were not also in education in each of the six months considered.
The publication includes outcomes at national and local authority level for those identified as having special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities in schools, and learners with a learning difficulty or disability (LLDD) in colleges. From 2016 young people with a SEN are grouped into those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and those identified as requiring support and, at KS4, information on primary need type is also given. Information about destinations after KS5 is only available for students who completed level 3 (advanced) qualifications meaning many SEN or LLDD learners aged 16 to 18 are not currently in scope for these statistics. The publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-ks4-and-ks5-pupils-2016.
Additionally, destinations of adult (19+) further education and all age apprenticeships are published. This publication presents sustained employment for all completers, regardless of education destination. Other definitions and reporting timelines are consistent with those used in ‘Destinations of KS4 and KS5 pupils’. Learners can be identified using the category ‘Learners with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities (LLDD)’. The publication is available at:
In addition to data collected by government, the Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes information on the “Destinations of leavers from Higher Education”. This publication identifies employment outcomes of leavers from UK higher education institutions six months after graduating, and includes information for students identified as having a disability. The publication is available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/29-06-2017/sfr245-destinations-of-leavers.
Figures for the proportion of students with learning difficulties in full-time employment within one year of leaving education are not available.
The PE and Sport Premium is available to primary schools to improve the quality of PE and sport. Department for Education guidance to schools, available at
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schools, sets out that funding can be used to embed physical activity into the school day through active travel to and from school, active playgrounds and active teaching. We promoted this guidance on 24 October as part of our announcement of doubling the PE and Sport Premium to £320 million.
In line with PPN 16/15, the Education and Skills Funding Agency provides a 6 monthly project pipeline forecast and an estimate of the value of steel that is likely to be used for the school projects to Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Her Majesty’s Treasury’s Central Support Team. It is understood that this information forms an input into information shared with the UK steel lobby.
The Department works with the Careers & Enterprise Company and I met with representatives of The Company recently. We will increase the quality and coverage of careers and enterprise provision in schools and colleges through use of the Enterprise Adviser Network, improving connections between schools, colleges and employers and raising the aspirations of young people.
The Network has now grown to over 1,800 schools and colleges across England, over 50% of all mainstream secondary schools. By the end of the year, we aim for over 2,000 secondary schools and colleges to be signed up to the Enterprise Adviser Network.
The department is working closely with the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) and I met with representatives of the Company recently.
The CEC set up its Enterprise Adviser Network in 2015 to work with schools and colleges to increase opportunities for young people to learn more about the world of work. Over 1,800 Enterprise Advisers are now working with schools and colleges to support their careers and enterprise provision.
In Scunthorpe there are five education establishments that have signed up to the network, of which one has been matched with an Enterprise Adviser and the others are in the process of being matched.
The Government wants to improve careers education and guidance for all ages. We are investing over £70 million this year to support young people and adults to get high quality careers provision.
The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) has made excellent progress to date in several areas, including:
We remain committed to working with the CEC in the future and building on the good work carried out to date.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to his previous question number 3689, which was answered on 12 July:
Budgets for 16 to 19-year-old education are set on the basis of the established 16 to 19 funding rates and formula, using estimates of student numbers. In 2014-15 and 2015-16 student numbers and associated costs were lower than these estimates, which resulted in lower spending than the forecast, by £135m and £132m respectively, representing 2.2% of the budget. This was available for reallocation. Because this resulted from student numbers which were slightly lower than forecast, it did not affect funding per student. Final expenditure is not yet available for 2016-17 and will be published in Education and Skills Funding Agency accounts in due course.
Department for Education expenditure on 16 to 19-year-old education is reported in Education Funding Agency (EFA) accounts. The 2014-15 accounts are published here:
The relevant information is included in the following lines from table 5 (Programme Costs) on page 155:
The 2015-16 accounts are published here:
The relevant information is included in the following lines from table 3 (Grant Expenditure) on page 115:
The accounts for 2016-17 have not yet been published.
Funding allocations to the sector, are made on an academic year basis rather than by financial year. Allocations are published each year and the data for 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-funding-allocations#published-allocations.
Funding allocations for 2017/18 have not yet been published. Funding for 16 to 19-year-old education includes Total Programme Funding and High Needs funding in the allocations tables.
As EFA accounts are published by financial year, and funding allocations are made by academic year, the two sets of figures are not directly comparable.
Department for Education expenditure on 16 to 19-year-old education is reported in Education Funding Agency (EFA) accounts. The 2014-15 accounts are published here:
The relevant information is included in the following lines from table 5 (Programme Costs) on page 155:
The 2015-16 accounts are published here:
The relevant information is included in the following lines from table 3 (Grant Expenditure) on page 115:
The accounts for 2016-17 have not yet been published.
Funding allocations to the sector, are made on an academic year basis rather than by financial year. Allocations are published each year and the data for 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-funding-allocations#published-allocations.
Funding allocations for 2017/18 have not yet been published. Funding for 16 to 19-year-old education includes Total Programme Funding and High Needs funding in the allocations tables.
As EFA accounts are published by financial year, and funding allocations are made by academic year, the two sets of figures are not directly comparable.
There are 48 open university technical colleges (UTCs). The January 2016 census is the most recently published number of pupils on roll at UTCs, which was published in June 2016. This covers all UTCs open in the 2015/16 academic year and can be found in the penultimate document (SFR20_2016_Schools_NCYear_UD) of the underlying data here:
January 2017 census data will be published in summer 2017.
The Department for Education encourages high performing schools, including grammar schools, to sponsor weaker schools. Any organisation interested in becoming an academy sponsor must apply through a rigorous process that is decided by the relevant Regional Schools Commissioner on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Further details can be found on the sponsorship section on the Department website - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/academy-sponsorship.
We routinely publish all open academy details and academy projects in development.
These details can be easily accessed online and you can find this information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development
The ‘Sponsored Pipeline’ tab features a list of sponsored academy projects currently in progress, the local authority in which they are located and, where applicable, the agreed sponsor.
We do not hold data on the time taken to match a sponsor with a school.
Information on school Ofsted inspection outcomes can be found on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-management-information-ofsteds-school-inspections-outcomes
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
It is for a school’s governing body (or the academy trust) to decide what their school uniform should be and how it should be sourced. The Department has issued guidance for all schools on the need to give highest priority to cost considerations when setting their uniform policy. The guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring that uniform is easily available and affordable for all parents.
Local authorities and academies have discretion within their budgets to provide school clothing grants or to help with the cost of school clothing in cases of financial hardship. Our guidance states that individual schools may also consider running their own schemes to provide assistance.
It is for a school’s governing body (or the academy trust) to decide what their school uniform should be and how it should be sourced. The Department has issued guidance for all schools on the need to give highest priority to cost considerations when setting their uniform policy. The guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring that uniform is easily available and affordable for all parents.
Local authorities and academies have discretion within their budgets to provide school clothing grants or to help with the cost of school clothing in cases of financial hardship. Our guidance states that individual schools may also consider running their own schemes to provide assistance.
It is for a school’s governing body (or the academy trust) to decide what their school uniform should be and how it should be sourced. The Department has issued guidance for all schools on the need to give highest priority to cost considerations when setting their uniform policy. The guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring that uniform is easily available and affordable for all parents.
Local authorities and academies have discretion within their budgets to provide school clothing grants or to help with the cost of school clothing in cases of financial hardship. Our guidance states that individual schools may also consider running their own schemes to provide assistance.
We encourage schools to create a whole-school culture that promotes health and well-being so that all our children are fit, healthy and able to learn. We know schools treat this seriously, and many take their own steps to promote their milk provision. School governing boards are responsible for their food policies (including milk) and we trust them to decide what is best.
The new national curriculum, which came into effect in September 2014, also sets the expectation that across a variety of subjects, pupils are taught about the importance of healthy eating and nutrition. Since its introduction, we have strengthened the requirements on schools to teach children about food, nutrition and healthy eating and how to cook a range of dishes. For example, in primary schools, children are taught about healthy eating, where their food comes from, and how to prepare and cook a range of dishes. In secondary schools, cookery is now compulsory and children are taught to cook a range of healthy and nutritious meals. They are equipped with knowledge about healthy eating and what is meant by a balanced diet.
The current EU School Milk scheme is very well-established across the UK and plays a valuable role in encouraging consumption of milk from an early age. The EU Commission recently introduced legislation for a new scheme from August next year which includes a focus on the role of education in supporting milk consumption. We are working closely with stakeholders on our plans to implement the new scheme.
We are committed to ensuring that apprenticeships are as accessible as possible to all people from all backgrounds.
We are undertaking a range of activities to increase the awareness amongst young people of the available apprenticeship options, including the four-year Get In Go Far campaign that launched in May 2016. The campaign aims to influence public perceptions, awareness and attitudes towards apprenticeships as a route into a successful career, helping young people aged 14-24 to get the skills they need, and encouraging more young people to apply and more employers to offer apprenticeship opportunities.
As part of reforms to the routes from compulsory school to employment, we set out new professional and technical routes, which will all lead to employment or degree-level study. This aims to ensure that young people have the education and skills to get into higher paid, long-term employment, including apprenticeships.
We are increasing numbers of traineeships to further support young people, including those from areas of disadvantage, into apprenticeships and further work. Traineeships show good representation for both BAME and LDD groups (22.6% and 19.7% respectively).
We remain committed to increasing the proportion of apprenticeships starts from people from BAME communities and have already put in place measures to support this, including: encouraging more people from BAME communities to apply for apprenticeships through communications and marketing; providing BAME role models in the Get in Go Far campaign; helping BAME apprenticeship applicants to have better rates of success in applications; and establishing a network of employer diversity ‘champions’.
Recommendations from the LLD Taskforce led by Paul Maynard were accepted and published on 11 July, and will benefit a broader group of disabled apprentices. Work has begun on its implementation.
The tables below show apprenticeship participation by learners aged 16 to 18 year olds by ethnicity and gender in latest 5 academic years for which data is available.
Apprenticeship Participation by Age and Ethnicity (2010/11 to 2014/15) | |||||||||||||||
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| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 |
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Age | Ethnicity | Number | Number | Number | Number | Number |
| ||||||||
16-18 | Asian/ Asian British | 6,240 | 6,300 | 5,200 | 5,750 | 6,280 |
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| Black/ African/ Caribbean/ Black British | 3,830 | 3,850 | 3,310 | 3,090 | 3,170 |
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| Mixed/ Multiple Ethnic Group | 4,270 | 4,240 | 4,000 | 4,220 | 4,560 |
| ||||||||
| Other Ethnic Group | 730 | 770 | 830 | 800 | 880 |
| ||||||||
| Total BAME | 15,070 | 15,160 | 13,330 | 13,860 | 14,890 |
| ||||||||
| White | 186,730 | 173,240 | 166,580 | 170,410 | 177,770 |
| ||||||||
| Not Known/Not Provided | 1,320 | 1,180 | 1,400 | 1,540 | 1,460 |
| ||||||||
16-18 Total |
| 203,120 | 189,580 | 181,310 | 185,820 | 194,110 |
| ||||||||
Grand Total |
| 665,900 | 806,500 | 868,700 | 851,500 | 871,770 |
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Apprenticeship Participation by Age and Gender (2010/11 to 2014/15) | |||||||||||||||
|
| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 |
| ||||||||
Age | Gender | Number | Number | Number | Number | Number |
| ||||||||
16-18 | Female | 89,090 | 81,640 | 78,900 | 80,760 | 82,710 |
| ||||||||
| Male | 114,040 | 107,940 | 102,410 | 105,050 | 111,400 |
| ||||||||
16-18 Total |
| 203,120 | 189,580 | 181,310 | 185,820 | 194,110 |
| ||||||||
Grand Total |
| 665,900 | 806,500 | 868,700 | 851,500 | 871,770 |
|
The Department for Education has not made any assessment of the correlation between the size of a school’s sixth form and the grade awarded by Ofsted to that school with respect to its sixth-form provision. We continue to monitor school and sixth form performance on an ongoing basis using a range of metrics, including Ofsted inspection outcomes, minimum standards and performance table data.
43.9% of schools with sixth-forms have a percentage of students achieving GCSE A*-C in English, which is lower than the corresponding national average. 45.4% of schools with sixth-forms have a percentage of students achieving GCSE A*-C in maths, which is lower than the corresponding national average.
As set out in our Post 16 Skills Plan, we will take forward the recommendations of the Sainsbury Review to put in place a world-class technical option that provides preparation for highly skilled employment. The technical option will be a prestigious and high-quality option for 16 year olds as an alternative to academic study. Applied general qualifications such as BTECs are not designed to be part of the technical education option. We plan to review the contribution of these qualifications to preparing students for higher education and the impact any reform would have on widening participation. We will announce our decisions later in the year.
It is important that individuals are able to switch between the academic and technical options so that students’ options are not closed down. Flexible learning will be important to learners of all ages, given the changing labour market. We accepted the Sainsbury panel’s recommendation that there should be appropriate bridging courses to make movement between the two options easily accessible and will be looking at options for putting these courses in place.
As set out in our Post 16 Skills Plan, we will take forward the recommendations of the Sainsbury Review to put in place a world-class technical option that provides preparation for highly skilled employment. The technical option will be a prestigious and high-quality option for 16 year olds as an alternative to academic study. Applied general qualifications such as BTECs are not designed to be part of the technical education option. We plan to review the contribution of these qualifications to preparing students for higher education and the impact any reform would have on widening participation. We will announce our decisions later in the year.
It is important that individuals are able to switch between the academic and technical options so that students’ options are not closed down. Flexible learning will be important to learners of all ages, given the changing labour market. We accepted the Sainsbury panel’s recommendation that there should be appropriate bridging courses to make movement between the two options easily accessible and will be looking at options for putting these courses in place.
Underlying data for ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ provides information for each school, including religious denomination (where applicable), alongside the number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.
This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2016
The Post-16 Skills Plan sets out our plans to radically reform technical education provision and the wider skills system in England to ensure they match the best in the world, tackling long-standing issues which have harmed our nation’s productivity and international competitiveness. We are committed to taking forward this ambitious programme in full, implementing the reforms in a lasting and coherent way.
We have already started work to identify pathfinder technical education routes; design the new functions within an expanded Institute for Apprenticeships; map the occupations within each route to identify what technical qualifications should be included within their scope; design the employer panels that will develop new standards where required; and develop ‘transition year’ arrangements for young people not ready to progress into mainstream technical or academic provision at 16, or later if their education has been delayed. In addition, we are continuing to implement those reforms which are already in train, such as the programme of locally led area reviews of post-16 provision.
Later in the autumn, we will publish an implementation plan, setting out in greater detail how we will deliver the Post-16 Skills Plan and how we will engage with key stakeholders, including colleges and employers, on the ongoing design and delivery of our proposals.
We trust schools to implement an assessment system that uses data effectively to support teaching and improve educational outcomes. Following the removal of levels, schools now have the freedom to determine their own system for non-statutory assessment between key stages, tailored to the needs of their pupils and their curriculum.
The Department supports and encourages the use of assessment to support effective teaching. This has included setting up the Commission on Assessment Without Levels to provide guidance for schools when devising and implementing their systems for non-statutory assessment. The Commission completed and published its final report in September 2015 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commission-on-assessment-without-levels-final-report.
As part of the Government’s ‘Workload Challenge’, the Department set up three independent review groups to address ineffective marking, use of planning and resources and data management. These reports included clear messages to empower classroom teachers and school leaders to challenge unproductive practice. They also included specific recommendations for Government, which we have accepted. The workload review reports were published on 26 March 2016 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reducing-teachers-workload/reducing-teachers-workload.
Assessment was also one of the areas considered by the independent expert group, chaired by Stephen Munday CBE, which has developed a framework of core content for initial teaching training (ITT). The group’s report, including the new framework of core content for ITT, was published on 12 July 2016 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-government-response-to-carter-review.
We established three independent review groups to tackle workload related to data management, marking and lesson planning. Members of the review groups included serving teachers and head teachers, teaching unions and Ofsted.
No formal representations have been received on the recommendations in the data management report although all three reports have been well received by the profession and ongoing discussions are taking place with teachers and their representatives to help embed their principles and implement the recommendations.
The white paper sets out the Government’s plans for the next five years, building on and extending our reforms to achieve educational excellence everywhere. The white paper is clear that we will ensure a knowledge-rich curriculum is complemented by the development of the character traits and fundamental British values that will help children succeed, and that includes encouraging mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith.
We believe in the importance of Religious Education (RE) to develop children’s knowledge of the values and traditions of Britain and other countries, and to foster understanding among different faiths and cultures. That is why RE remains compulsory at all Key Stages and why all schools have a duty to teach a broad and balanced curriculum.
Local authorities are responsible for providing an agreed syllabus for their local area which must reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain. Maintained schools without a religious designation must follow the agreed syllabus. Voluntary controlled schools and foundation schools with a religious designation follow the locally agreed syllabus, unless parents request a denominational syllabus.
Academies without a religious designation can either follow the locally agreed syllabus, or develop their own syllabus that meets the same requirements as a locally agreed syllabus.
Voluntary aided schools and academies with a religious designation can teach RE in accordance with their trust deeds and/or the tenets of their faith.
This government is committed to promoting physical activity among young people and we want all pupils to be healthy and active. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum, and this sets out the expectation that pupils should be physically active for sustained periods of time. Schools have the flexibility to use the primary PE and sport premium, worth £160m this year, to improve the quality of the physical activity offer to their pupils. From 2017 we are doubling the primary PE and sport premium to £320m a year, and the forthcoming childhood obesity strategy will contain a number of measures which will complement our existing policies to promote physical activity for primary pupils.
Religious education (RE) is compulsory in all state-funded schools, including academies and free schools. As part of Ofsted school inspections, inspectors consider whether schools are providing a broad and balanced curriculum, which meets pupils’ needs and statutory requirements. If it becomes evident during the course of an inspection that a school is not teaching RE, this should be reflected in the school’s inspection report. Faith schools are required to arrange a separate inspection of denominational religious education and collective worship, leading to published reports.
Every school must have a complaint procedure. If an individual is concerned that a school is not teaching religious education, they should follow the schools’ complaint procedure in the first instance. If the complaint is not resolved, then the issue can be escalated to the Department’s School Complaints Unit for maintained schools, or the Education Funding Agency for academies, free schools, university technical colleges or studio schools. Information about complaint procedures for schools can be found at www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
Religious education (RE) is compulsory in all state-funded schools, including academies and free schools. As part of Ofsted school inspections, inspectors consider whether schools are providing a broad and balanced curriculum, which meets pupils’ needs and statutory requirements. If it becomes evident during the course of an inspection that a school is not teaching RE, this should be reflected in the school’s inspection report. Faith schools are required to arrange a separate inspection of denominational religious education and collective worship, leading to published reports.
Every school must have a complaint procedure. If an individual is concerned that a school is not teaching religious education, they should follow the schools’ complaint procedure in the first instance. If the complaint is not resolved, then the issue can be escalated to the Department’s School Complaints Unit for maintained schools, or the Education Funding Agency for academies, free schools, university technical colleges or studio schools. Information about complaint procedures for schools can be found at www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.
We are working closely with colleagues both at the Department of Health and across Whitehall on the Childhood Obesity Strategy. Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. The Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the late summer, will consider all the factors that contribute to a child becoming overweight and obese, and set out our plans to tackle this major challenge.
The Obesity Strategy will complement our existing measures to promote school-based physical activity for pupils. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum, and the national curriculum sets out the expectation that pupils should be physically active for sustained periods of time. In addition, we have ring-fenced over £450 million to improve PE and sport in primary schools (2013/14 - 2015/16), and committed to doubling the primary PE and sport premium to £320 million a year from September 2017 using revenue from the soft drinks industry levy.
We are working closely with colleagues both at the Department of Health and across Whitehall on the Childhood Obesity Strategy. Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. The Childhood Obesity Strategy, which will be launched in the late summer, will consider all the factors that contribute to a child becoming overweight and obese, and set out our plans to tackle this major challenge.
The Obesity Strategy will complement our existing measures to promote school-based physical activity for pupils. PE remains a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum, and the national curriculum sets out the expectation that pupils should be physically active for sustained periods of time. In addition, we have ring-fenced over £450 million to improve PE and sport in primary schools (2013/14 - 2015/16), and committed to doubling the primary PE and sport premium to £320 million a year from September 2017 using revenue from the soft drinks industry levy.
We will continue to consider carefully the report from the School Teachers’ Review Body and its recommendations. We will publish the report, together with our response and a draft revised School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document, as soon as we have completed our consideration of it.
We are currently considering the School Teachers’ Review Body’s report, its publication and the publication of the draft School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document.
The Secretary of State has already announced the Government’s plans to introduce resits in Year 7. This announcement can found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nicky-morgan-no-tolerance-of-areas-where-majority-of-pupils-fail.
We have been clear that the resits will not be implemented in the next academic year and that we will engage with the education sector to make sure the tests are introduced in a way that works for schools. Further information will be provided in due course.
All teachers recommended for the award of qualified teacher status (QTS) must demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards in full, at the appropriate level (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards). Trainees undertaking a course of initial teacher training must also satisfy the requirements of the Secretary of State’s Criteria for ITT (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-criteria), including having passed the professional skills tests in literacy and numeracy.
Our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, set out our proposals to replace the current QTS with a new, more challenging accreditation based on teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom. We will be setting out further detail of how and when we intend to implement the new system shortly.
The Government’s White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, confirmed that we intend to use a new set of quality criteria to determine how initial teacher training (ITT) places are allocated to training providers in future, ensuring that training is concentrated with the highest-quality providers. On the basis of these criteria, which will include factors such as the quality of trainees recruited, the quality of the training programmes, and the quality of outcomes for trainees, we will designate some providers as Centres of Excellence. We expect to set out further details of the quality criteria that will apply for the 2017/18 training year, and which providers will be designated as Centres of Excellence, when we confirm the methodology for allocating places, which is currently under discussion.
The Department for Education has actively been engaging the ITT sector in discussions about the proposals in the White Paper, including the establishment of ITT Centres of Excellence. Engagement to date has included a series of roundtable discussion events for university- and school-led providers and their representative bodies, such as the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT).
We expect to confirm the allocations methodology for 2017/18 after further consultation with providers and their representative organisations over the summer, in time for the start of recruitment in the autumn term.
The Government’s White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, confirmed that we intend to use a new set of quality criteria to determine how initial teacher training (ITT) places are allocated to training providers in future, ensuring that training is concentrated with the highest-quality providers. On the basis of these criteria, which will include factors such as the quality of trainees recruited, the quality of the training programmes, and the quality of outcomes for trainees, we will designate some providers as Centres of Excellence. We expect to set out further details of the quality criteria that will apply for the 2017/18 training year, and which providers will be designated as Centres of Excellence, when we confirm the methodology for allocating places, which is currently under discussion.
The Department for Education has actively been engaging the ITT sector in discussions about the proposals in the White Paper, including the establishment of ITT Centres of Excellence. Engagement to date has included a series of roundtable discussion events for university- and school-led providers and their representative bodies, such as the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT).
We expect to confirm the allocations methodology for 2017/18 after further consultation with providers and their representative organisations over the summer, in time for the start of recruitment in the autumn term.
The Government’s White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, confirmed that we intend to use a new set of quality criteria to determine how initial teacher training (ITT) places are allocated to training providers in future, ensuring that training is concentrated with the highest-quality providers. On the basis of these criteria, which will include factors such as the quality of trainees recruited, the quality of the training programmes, and the quality of outcomes for trainees, we will designate some providers as Centres of Excellence. We expect to set out further details of the quality criteria that will apply for the 2017/18 training year, and which providers will be designated as Centres of Excellence, when we confirm the methodology for allocating places, which is currently under discussion.
The Department for Education has actively been engaging the ITT sector in discussions about the proposals in the White Paper, including the establishment of ITT Centres of Excellence. Engagement to date has included a series of roundtable discussion events for university- and school-led providers and their representative bodies, such as the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT).
We expect to confirm the allocations methodology for 2017/18 after further consultation with providers and their representative organisations over the summer, in time for the start of recruitment in the autumn term.
The Department for Education publishes capital spend data on individual university technical colleges once contracts have been awarded and the schools are open. This information can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-funding-for-open-free-schools
No University Technical Colleges (UTCs) closed in 2013 or 2014.
Two UTCs, Black County UTC and Hackney UTC, closed in August 2015 and two UTCs, Central Bedfordshire UTC and UTC Lancashire, are due to close at the end of the 2015/16 academic year.
Once closed, the change is reflected in our published list of open UTCs which can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-open-schools-and-successful-applications
According to published January census data, the number of pupils on roll in all University Technical Colleges (UTCs) was 795 in academic year 2012/13, 2,946 in 2013/14 and 6,363 in 2014/15.
The census data for January 2016 has not yet been published. However, the 2015 October census data shows 9,454 pupils on roll in all UTCs in the 2015/16 academic year.
The subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) programme supports universities and schools in filling teacher training places in priority subjects. It enables candidates who have the potential to be excellent teachers to overcome gaps in their subject knowledge that would otherwise mean that they would not be recruited to a teacher training course.
Tables 1 and 2 contain the number of trainees (by length of course) registered on SKE courses in chemistry and physics from 2011/12 to 2015/16.
Table 1: Physics SKE recruitment for academic years 2011/12 to 2014/15, and claims to date for academic year 2015/16.
| Number of trainees | ||||
Duration of SKE course (weeks) | 2011/12 [1] | 2012/13 [1] | 2013/14 [1] | 2014/15 [1] | 2015/16 [2] |
2 | 187 | 133 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
4 | 53 | 62 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
8 | 29 | 32 | 161 | 151 | 28 |
12 | 55 | 64 | 45 | 43 | 32 |
16 | 58 | 48 | 13 | 27 | 19 |
18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
20 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 23 |
24 | 51 | 36 | 54 | 49 | 48 |
26 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
28 | 56 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 15 |
32 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
36 | 57 | 50 | 4 | 32 | 19 |
Table 2: Chemistry SKE recruitment for academic years 2011/12 to 2014/15, and claims to date for academic year 2015/16.
| Number of trainees | ||||
Course duration (weeks) | 2011/12 [1] | 2012/13 [1] | 2013/14 [1] | 2014/15 [1] | 2015/16 [2] |
2 | 172 | 83 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
4 | 63 | 66 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
8 | 7 | 14 | 156 | 161 | 52 |
10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
12 | 61 | 73 | 69 | 56 | 36 |
16 | 52 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 24 |
20 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
24 | 65 | 40 | 28 | 36 | 39 |
28 | 44 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
32 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 7 |
36 | 95 | 93 | 17 | 22 | 17 |
[1] Submitted trainee data and accepted claims for the full academic year.
[2] Accepted claims as at 6 May 2016.
The final 2015/16 data will not be available until after the end of the academic year; however, the number of people using SKE in the current academic year is 59% of last year’s total which, if previous years’ trends apply to the current year, would suggest increased use of SKE compared to 2014/15.
The Government takes the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously and is supporting those in schools and responsible bodies who have the legal responsibility for safely managing asbestos in their schools.
The Department provides funding to schools to help them keep their school buildings in a good state of repair. Between 2015 and 2018 this investment will total £4.2 billion and schools and responsible bodies are able to use this funding to remove asbestos where that is appropriate.
For maintained schools, the local authority as responsible body receives an annual allocation of capital funding to repair and upgrade existing buildings. Local authorities are expected to treat fairly those schools considering conversion to an academy and to honour any commitments of capital funding that they have made, in respect of building projects at those schools.
Following conversion, a school can be part of a larger multi-academy trust, a smaller multi-academy trust or a standalone academy. Larger multi-academy trusts (MATs) have access to annual formulaic school condition allocations (SCA), which they can pass on to their constituent schools to address any serious asbestos concerns. For stand-alone academies and academies in smaller multi academy trusts, funding is available through the condition improvement fund (CIF) where they bid for capital funding. As set out in the guidance for prospective bidders, the highest priority is given to health and safety issues due to the poor condition of buildings, including emergency asbestos removal.
As set out in our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we plan to introduce ‘Centres of Excellence’ in Initial Teacher Training which will receive multi-year allocations. We are currently engaging the sector and working to establish the criteria for determining which providers will be designated as a ‘Centre of Excellence’. At this stage, no firm decisions have been taken.
In order to complete initial teacher training successfully, all trainees must meet the Teachers’ Standards in full. The standards emphasise the importance of the basics of good teaching, such as strong subject knowledge and effective behaviour management. Following the review teacher training by Sir Andrew Carter, we have a commissioned an expert group to develop a new framework of content for training, based closely on the Teachers’ Standards and reiterating the requirement to place a clear focus on essentials such as the effective development of subject knowledge and being able to identify and respond to special educational needs. The group will be making its recommendations to Ministers shortly.
As set out in our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we plan to introduce ‘Centres of Excellence’ in Initial Teacher Training which will receive multi-year allocations. We are currently engaging the sector and working to establish the criteria for determining which providers will be designated as a ‘Centre of Excellence’. At this stage, no firm decisions have been taken.
As set out in our recent White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, we plan to introduce ‘Centres of Excellence’ in Initial Teacher Training which will receive multi-year allocations. We are currently engaging the sector and working to establish the criteria for determining which providers will be designated as a ‘Centre of Excellence’. At this stage, no firm decisions have been taken.
In order to complete initial teacher training successfully, all trainees must meet the Teachers’ Standards in full. The standards emphasise the importance of the basics of good teaching, such as strong subject knowledge and effective behaviour management. Following the review teacher training by Sir Andrew Carter, we have a commissioned an expert group to develop a new framework of content for training, based closely on the Teachers’ Standards and reiterating the requirement to place a clear focus on essentials such as the effective development of subject knowledge and being able to identify and respond to special educational needs. The group will be making its recommendations to Ministers shortly.
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires local authorities to develop and publish a Local Offer setting out the support they expect to be available for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities in their local area. The Local Offer must include information about leisure activities which may include information about play opportunities.
The Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections will consider how effectively the local area identifies, meets the needs of and improves the outcomes of the wide range of different groups[1] of children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities as defined in the Act and described in the Code of Practice.
Ofsted and CQC will draw on a range of sources, including the local offer, to identify key lines of enquiry and to support assessment of the effectiveness of the local area.
Ofsted and CQC will publish an inspection report that will outline the evidence that inspectors reviewed and provide a summary of key findings including the local area’s strengths and areas requiring further development.
The inspection framework and handbook are available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspection-framework
[1] These groups of children and young people are detailed in Part 2 of the ‘Handbook for the inspection of local areas’ effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities’.
The Education and Skills Act 2008 requires young people to participate in education or training until they are 18. Young people can participate through full-time education, work combined with part-time education or training, or by undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship.
The 16 and 17 year olds joining the armed forces are under a contract of employment but they are not exempt from their duty to participate. Most of these young people meet their duty to participate by undertaking an apprenticeship.
We have agreed with the Ministry of Defence that serving in the armed forces is a valid and valuable career route which provides relevant training for young people.
Apprenticeships are embedded across initial training in the armed forces, with over 95% of all young recruits (no matter what their age or prior qualifications) enrolling in an apprenticeship each year.
All apprenticeships require a minimum of 280 Guided Learning Hours (GLHs) within a 12 month period. The same GLH requirement applies to the small number of young people in the armed forces who are not on an apprenticeship.
The proportion of 16 and 17 year olds in full-time education in England was 70.3% at the end of 2005 and 82.2% at the end of 2014 (provisional figures). These figures are published in Table A7 of the ‘Additional tables – rates’ in the Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Participation in education, training and employment’ and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-neet
Figures for end 2015 are not yet available but will be published on 30th June 2016 as part of the above series.
The Education and Skills Act 2008 requires young people to participate in education or training until they are 18. Young people can participate through full-time education, work combined with part-time education or training, or by undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship.
The 16 and 17 year olds joining the armed forces are under a contract of employment but they are not exempt from their duty to participate. Most of these young people meet their duty to participate by undertaking an apprenticeship.
We have agreed with the Ministry of Defence that serving in the armed forces is a valid and valuable career route which provides relevant training for young people.
Apprenticeships are embedded across initial training in the armed forces, with over 95% of all young recruits (no matter what their age or prior qualifications) enrolling in an apprenticeship each year.
All apprenticeships require a minimum of 280 Guided Learning Hours (GLHs) within a 12 month period. The same GLH requirement applies to the small number of young people in the armed forces who are not on an apprenticeship.
For the 2016/17 Initial Teacher Training (ITT) recruitment round, the Department operated a system of recruitment controls and not allocations. We continue to monitor daily the recruitment at a regional level and have the power to enact regional controls if we see a large disparity in recruitment for a region. A guide to the 2016/17 ITT recruitment round methodology can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/468099/ITT_recruitment_control_guidance_2016-17_v1.1.pdf
We are currently engaging the sector and working to establish the criteria for determining which providers will be designated as a ‘Centre of Excellence’ and receive multi-year allocations, but at this stage no firm decisions have been taken.
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
High-quality trainee teachers are central to our ambition of achieving educational excellence everywhere. The White Paper confirmed that we will introduce new quality criteria to inform the allocation of training places to providers of initial teacher training (ITT) for both schools and universities. This will include an assessment of the quality of trainees recruited to ITT courses.
We will announce further details of the criteria we intend to use shortly; this will begin to inform the allocation of training places to schools and universities from the 2017/18 training year. We anticipate refining the criteria over the coming years, taking account of feedback from the sector and the way in which providers are responding.
All executive agencies are required to undertake a review every three years. The National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) Triennial Review is being led by Roger Pope, Chair of NCTL.
We expect to confirm the results of that review later this year.
Academies have the same opportunities as maintained schools to become involved in teacher training, either through the School Direct programme, becoming a School Centred Initial Teacher Training provider (SCITT), or partnering with a university teacher training provider.
Academies also benefit from additional freedoms to recruit subject experts who do not have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), but can add real value to the classroom. Schools that are part of multi-academy trusts (MATs) can also benefit from the ability to use their greater resources to attract the teachers they need.
Our proposals to replace QTS with a new, stronger accreditation will mean schools will be able to put those subject experts who have not been through ITT on a pathway to formal accreditation. We expect the vast majority of teachers will continue to train through ITT, particularly as more schools become directly involved in the selection and training of new teachers. 94 per cent of teachers in academies hold QTS, demonstrating that head teachers value high-quality ITT.
As announced in our White Paper, Educational Excellence Everywhere, our proposals to replace Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a new, stronger accreditation will raise the bar for new teachers. While we expect the vast majority of new teachers to continue to complete initial teacher training (ITT), these proposals will also mean that schools can put teachers who have not completed a period of ITT onto a pathway to formal accreditation.
We will set out further details of how and when we intend to implement the new accreditation process shortly. Until then, the Department has no plans to change the regulations which permit academies and maintained schools to employ teachers who do not hold QTS.
Our recent White Paper made a commitment to raising the quality of initial teacher training so that teaching continues to be a profession that attracts the brightest and the best. We want to ensure that training places are allocated to providers – both schools and universities – with a proven track record of effectively recruiting high-quality trainees, delivering high-quality programmes of training, and securing the best possible outcomes for trainees.
We will be setting out further detail of our plans to implement these reforms shortly. This will include confirming details of the quality criteria that we intend to use to inform the allocation of places to universities and schools for the training year 2017/18. We are currently holding discussions with stakeholders, including ITT providers and their representative bodies, to inform the development of appropriate criteria.
The model articles of association give multi-academy trust (MAT) boards the freedom to appoint a local governing body. The board is also free to decide on what, if any, governance functions they delegate to subsidiary governance structures at the level of either individual schools or clusters of schools. Whatever arrangements MATs use, they must set out and publish on their website their chosen arrangements in a clear scheme of delegation.
The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere outlines our intention to place a new expectation on all academies to put in place specific arrangements to engage with all parents in a meaningful way to listen to their views and feedback. To enable a move to fully skills-based governance, the White Paper also announces an end to our requirement on new and existing trusts to reserve places on the board for elected parents.
Academy trusts are independent charities and must comply with charity law. This means that trust directors can only receive payment for carrying out trustee duties with Charity Commission authorisation.
The Charity Commission will only authorise payment to academy trustees where it has been clearly shown to be in the charity’s interests. They will consider issues such as the reasons for payment, whether conflicts of interests are managed appropriately, whether the Principal Regulator (for academies this is the Secretary of State for Education) is agreeable and whether payment of any trustees is in the longer-term interests of the charity. These arrangements are set out in the Department’s Governance Handbook, available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook. It is up to trusts to decide on the level of any such remuneration.
Academy trusts operate under a robust accountability system which holds them to account for the results they achieve and their use of resources. This includes a requirement to publish audited accounts each year allowing the wider public chance to hold academy trusts to account to help make sure that spend is securing better outcomes for pupils.
The Education Act 2002 gives the Secretary of State the power to give guidance to maintained schools governing bodies about their constitution. She also has a number of other information gathering powers in legislation. We expect to use this combination to make provision for the database by 1 September 2016. We also intend to bring forward legislation on barring unsuitable individuals from being governors of maintained schools at the earliest opportunity.
The model articles of association give multi-academy trust (MAT) boards the freedom to appoint a local governing body. The board is also free to decide on what, if any, governance functions they delegate to subsidiary governance structures at the level of either individual schools or clusters of schools. Whatever arrangements MATs use, they must set out and publish on their website their chosen arrangements in a clear scheme of delegation.
The White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere outlines our intention to place a new expectation on all academies to put in place specific arrangements to engage with all parents in a meaningful way to listen to their views and feedback. To enable a move to fully skills-based governance, the White Paper also announces an end to our requirement on new and existing trusts to reserve places on the board for elected parents.
A wide range of meetings are held within each area review, which is a locally owned process designed to meet the needs of each local area. Bilateral meetings will often take place, for instance, between individual colleges which might be exploring restructuring options. Local stakeholders will often meet in smaller groupings to discuss particular issues or themes, for example local enterprise partnerships and local authorities may have set up separate meetings. Additionally, some local stakeholders will seek meetings to ensure their involvement at particular points, for example local MPs once recommendations emerge.
The number and type of meetings are likely to vary with each review, depending on local provision, circumstances and issues as well as local interest in engaging with the review work. The following focuses on the formal meetings which are a core part of the area review process and would therefore be consistent across the country.
A number of formal area review steering group meetings have taken place in each area since September 2015. No steering group meetings were held prior to September 2015. Meetings held between September 2015 and March 2016 are as follows:
Minutes of the steering group meetings are not published as they are a series of internal discussions during which local stakeholders review post-16 provision in their area and work towards a set of recommendations. As such, each local steering group has space and autonomy to develop their proposals and discuss local issues effectively.
The Department is committed to making the outcomes transparent, and once each review reaches its conclusions, there will be a summary report published at the end of each Area Review process.
Promoting equality in education settings is a priority for this Government. In combination with our guidance to schools on managing medical conditions, the Equality Act 2010 provides a broad basis for ensuring that disabled pupils are included and supported to achieve their full potential.
The Equality Act requires all schools (whether maintained or academy) to produce an accessibility plan. These plans ensure that all aspects of school life are accessible to disabled pupils. The Act also requires Local Authorities to produce accessibility strategies with the same aims as the school-level plan, but with different coverage. There is no evidence of schools or early years settings systematically refusing to accept disabled children. However, we do take action where individual cases are brought to our attention.
Our Early Implementer Package for the new extended childcare offer will include testing how we can improve access for children with SEN and disabilities. This will provide critical information before the national rollout.
Any exclusions from school must be lawful, reasonable and fair. Schools have a legal duty not to discriminate against a pupil because of a protected characteristic. The statutory guidance on exclusion emphasises the importance of early intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour, including an assessment of whether suitable provision is in place to support any SEN or disability a pupil may have. It also states that headteachers should, as far as possible, avoid excluding permanently any pupil with a statement of SEN.
In certain circumstances, governing bodies must review head teachers’ decisions to exclude and have the power to reinstate a pupil. Where a governing body upholds a permanent exclusion, parents can request that the decision is reviewed by an independent review panel. However, the governing body has the final say on whether the pupil can return to the school. Parents can request that a SEN expert provides impartial advice to the panel.
Parents can also make a claim to the First-tier Tribunal (SEN and Disabilities) when it is alleged that an exclusion relates to disability discrimination. The Tribunal has the power to order the pupil’s reinstatement.
When Ofsted inspect a school and look at the behaviour management policies they can also consider whether the school is disproportionately excluding pupils with disabilities and can use this to inform their assessment.
Evidence, including a seminal McKinsey study from 2007 (How the world’s best-performing schools come out on top), shows that teacher quality and impact cannot be predicted by a single factor such as A-Level grades, but result from a complex combination of factors including academic achievement combined with characteristics and attributes such as communication skills, willingness to learn and motivation to teach.
The Teachers’ Standards, developed by a group of leading teachers and heads, clearly define the core elements of effective teaching – including strong subject knowledge and the promotion of scholarship, as well as skills such as classroom management. All new teachers must demonstrate that they are meeting the standards at the end of their initial training.
It is important that providers of initial teacher training are able to select and recruit candidates on the basis of their potential and their academic achievement to date; this is why we are giving schools much greater say in recruiting and training candidates who can be successful in the classroom. This year, over half of all postgraduate trainees are coming through school-led routes.
The government recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning, and the Early Years Foundation Stage is clear that “practitioners must consider the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child in their care… to plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development.” Health and safety should not create a barrier to accessing play activities for children with multiple needs.
The staff working in early years settings as Early Years Educators (level 3) and Early Years Teachers (graduates) are required to have an understanding of different pedagogical approaches, including the role of play in supporting early learning and development. The criteria for the Early Years Educator and standards for Early Years Teacher Status qualifications are set by the department. However, it is the responsibility of early years settings to provide play opportunities for their children and pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Ofsted conducts a regular cycle of inspection to ensure that provision meets the required quality and safety standards and assesses the extent to which the learning and care provided by the setting meets the needs of the range of children who attend, including the needs of any children who have SEND.
The Childcare Act 2016 expands the free childcare entitlement from 15 to 30 hours for three- and four-year-olds of working parents. As part of the Early Implementer Package announced on 2 February 2016, local authorities involved will be using the opportunity to test and showcase how childcare can be delivered in a way that improves access for children with SEND. The department also launched a consultation on 3 April 2016 seeking views on key elements of the operation and delivery of the 30 hours and we welcome views on provision for children with SEND. The consultation is available on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/30-hour-free-childcare-entitlement
There are a range of ways in which Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) and members of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) can contribute to area reviews, for instance through the National Area Review Advisory Group.
It is expected that there will be at least five steering group meetings in each review. To date all Wave 1 Area Reviews have held a number of local steering group meetings and RSCs and LEPs are members. They or their representatives have attended the majority of these meetings.
In Birmingham and Solihull, one meeting in December 2015 took place without an RSC representative present.
In Greater Manchester, one meeting in November 2015 took place without an RSC representative present and one meeting in December 2015 took place without either an RSC or LEP representative present.
In Sheffield City Region, one meeting in December 2015 took place without an RSC representative present.
In Tees Valley, all meetings have taken place with a RSC or LEP representative present.
In Sussex, one meeting in February 2016 took place without an RSC representative present.
In the Solent, one meeting in November 2015 and one meeting in January 2016 took place without an RSC representative present.
In West Yorkshire, one meeting in November 2015, one meeting in December 2015 and one meeting in January 2016 took place without an RSC representative present.
Both a RSC and LEP representative have been present at all other steering group meetings of the Wave 1 area reviews.
The local authority (LA) is responsible for enforcing parking restrictions around schools. The LA must also promote sustainable travel and transport, and strategies for encouraging walking, cycling and public transport should form part of that. The duty applies to all children and young people of compulsory school age who travel to receive education or training in a local authority’s area and is reinforced by the Department’s home to school transport statutory guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445407/Home_to_School_Travel_and_Transport_Guidance.pdf
The Department for Education recognises that play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning. The importance of play is already recognised within the early years legislation covered by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare and Education’s portfolio.
Play is covered in the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework and states: Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults. The framework is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
The staff working in early years settings as Early Years Educators (level 3) and Early Years Teachers (graduates) are required to have an understanding of different pedagogical approaches, including the role of play in supporting early learning and development. The criteria for the Early Years Educator and standards for Early Years Teacher Status qualifications are set by the department. However, it is the responsibility of early years settings to provide play opportunities for their children and pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Ofsted registers childcare provision on the Early Years Register and the General Childcare Register and conducts a regular cycle of inspection to ensure that provision meets the required quality and safety standards.
In judging the quality and standards of early years provision, Ofsted inspectors must assess the extent to which the learning and care provided by the setting meets the needs of the range of children who attend, including the needs of any children who have special educational needs or disabilities. At August 2015, 85 per cent of providers on the Early Years Register were rated good or outstanding for overall effectiveness.
We have already announced over £1bn more for the early years entitlements within the ring-fenced Dedicated Schools Grant by 2019-20, which includes £300m to uplift the funding rate to providers. The increase to the funding rate is based on robust evidence from the Review of the Cost of Childcare. We have made clear our commitment to maximise the amount of this funding which reaches front line childcare providers, and will consult on proposals for achieving this as part of our consultation on early years funding reform later this year.
The Department supports the Department for Transport’s target to increase the numbers of pupils walking to school. Local authorities have a duty to promote sustainable school travel and transport, and our statutory guidance on home to school transport states that strategies for encouraging walking should form part of that duty. Departmental officials have recently met the Living Streets Charity to discuss how we can further help local authorities in promoting walking to school and we continue to support and promote initiatives such as Living Streets, Modeshift and Sustrans both by engaging with consultations and through our guidance.
The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445407/Home_to_School_Travel_and_Transport_Guidance.pdf
The management of the Future Teaching Scholars programme is contracted to the delivery organisation, Education Development Trust. Any money spent on marketing is determined by the Education Development Trust.
Funding for the Future Teaching Scholars programme is allocated by financial year rather than by cohort. £1.3m has been allocated for financial year 2016-17. This covers the £15,000 financial incentive to Scholars, continued marketing expenditure, and all programme delivery costs.
To date we have received applications from 27 women and 23 men. We remain confident that we will secure 110 scholars by the end of summer 2016.
The Future Teaching Scholars programme is currently recruiting high achieving A level students, with the aim of securing up to 110 Scholars to start the programme in academic year 2016-17. All Scholars will be rigorously selected, including assessment of their commitment to teaching.
There will be places available for all Scholars after they successfully complete their undergraduate degree and commence their initial teacher training from the 2019-20 academic year.
The Future Teaching Scholars programme received 50 applications in the first recruitment round. We remain confident that we will secure 110 scholars by the end of summer 2016.
At present, each RSC office employs between 8 and 10 members of staff. In line with the Department's commitment to greater transparency, staffing structure information for each RSC office, including staff count for each grade, pay scale and location, is published on GOV.UK at: http://reference.data.gov.uk/gov-structure/organogram/?pubbod=department-for-education
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places in their local area.
The RSCs are responsible for approving the sponsors of new free schools and intervening in underperforming academies and free schools in their area. The RSCs consider basic need when making decisions on proposed changes to academies, and must consider any representations from local authorities.
The regional school commissioners currently have one agency worker and one inward secondee from a County Council.
Contractors procured to support the academies and free schools programme are required to declare conflicts of interest.
The contract states, “The Contractor is required to declare to the Contract Manager any interests and/or links, including other contracts or positions held whether they be paid or unpaid or relationships with, but not limited to, schools, education providers or other external organisations involved in the provision of education or education services so the Contract Manager may assess whether any conflicts of interest, whether potential, actual or perceived, and as reasonably judged by the Contract Manager, may have the potential to present reputational, operational or legal or risks to the Contractor and to the Department in allocating any particular project.
"If such a conflict of interest does arise, or may arise, the Contractor will declare it to the Department immediately and accept that the Department may ask the Contractor to immediately cease any involvement with the task giving rise to the conflict.”
The Department will publish an award notice on GOV.UK that names suppliers that have been awarded contracts, business addresses and contract values over £20,000. The Department will also be publishing related supplier contracts that support the academy and free school programme on Contract Finder on GOV.UK by 31 March 2016.
The Department will publish an award notice on GOV.UK that names suppliers that have been awarded contracts, business addresses and contract values over £20,000. The Department will also be publishing related supplier contracts that support the academy and free school programme on Contract Finder on GOV.UK by 31 March 2016.
The department does not publish daily rates for specialist contractors. Doing so would prejudice commercial interests.
The specialist contractors that support the academies and free school programme are directed in advance of commencing any work that their conduct and behaviour when delivering the Department’s business complies with the Civil Service Code’s principles.
The Department has contracted 92 suppliers to provide education specialist contractors to support the academies and free school programme. Further details can be found in Annex G of the supplementary evidence submitted to the Education Select Committee on the role of RSCs, which can be found here:
In financial year 2014-15, the Department spent £1,112,580.53 on education specialist contractors to support the regional school commissioners.
Invitation to tender including the contract was published on contracts finder on GOV.UK on 12 August 2015 at:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/fcbd797d-c613-47f5-8853-79f2ad7d74a9
The information is available about each academy trust in the notes to their financial statements which are published online by the Department for Education and at Companies House.
The information is available about each academy trust in the notes to their financial statements which are published online by the Department for Education and at Companies House.
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
All Wave 1 Area Reviews have held a number of local steering group meetings, of which RSCs are members. Dates of some of the steering group meetings are in the public domain, as are details of membership of the steering groups.
To date, £4.3m has been spent on the programme, the majority of which has been initial, one-off start-up costs. The funding has been allocated to trainee salaries in addition to programme costs to deliver the degree qualification and teacher training requirements.
One cohort has completed their training to date with a further two cohorts currently in training. In total, 144 teachers have been recruited through the scheme.
There has only been one cohort to complete to date. The retention rate for this cohort was 76 per cent.
The current retention rate for cohort 2 is 90 per cent, and for cohort 3 it is 96 per cent.
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
There are a range of ways in which Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) and members of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) contribute to area reviews, for instance through the Area Review Advisory Group.
All Wave 1 Area Reviews have held a number of local steering group meetings, and RSCs and LEPs are members. In terms of specific attendance, an RSC may attend in person, or may instead send a representative. The area review guidance published in September 2015 does indicate that the LEP should be a member of the local steering group, but it does not require a particular representative to attend. LEPs do not usually have chief executives.
RSC and LEP representatives have attended various steering group meetings in Birmingham and Solihull, Greater Manchester, Sheffield City Region, Tees Valley, Sussex, Solent and West Yorkshire from September 2015 to the present.
Regional Schools Commissioners are responsible for monitoring the performance of academies within their region, including performance at sixth form level. Decisions regarding intervention action are informed by the academy’s performance against minimum standards, including the 16-19 minimum standards, and Ofsted judgements, as well as local intelligence.
Higher education institutions (HEIs) are responsible for their own recruitment to initial teacher training (ITT) courses, both through offering their own ITT places and supporting the wider school-led system.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) has introduced a new system for postgraduate ITT recruitment for the 2016/17 academic year. Full information has been published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
The Government is committed to attracting more top graduates into teaching, and has already announced increased bursaries and other financial incentives in those core academic subjects that best help children achieve their potential; including tax free bursaries of up to £30,000.
The Department for Education has launched a programme of marketing activities highlighting the benefits of a career in teaching to attract people into the profession. This includes TV advertising, the “Get into Teaching” website, digital advertising and activity on social media. Officials attend more than 40 graduate recruitment and Train to Teach events each year in order to promote teaching to those interested in applying.
The department collects the number of teacher vacancies in November each year. The November 2015 collection is still underway as schools, Local Authorities and Academy Trusts have until the end of January 2016 to provide their workforce data.
The latest available data on the number of vacancies in schools is from the November 2014 School Workforce Census which was published in July 2015 and is available from table 14 at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014
The published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.
We have not reduced the funding for any higher education institutions (HEIs) as a consequence of training more teachers than places allocated since 2010-11.
The number of vacancies in each primary and secondary school is collected as part of the annual November School Workforce Census. The latest national and local authority level statistics were published in July 2015 and are located at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-workforce-in-england-november-2014
As part of the School Workforce Census collection each state funded school is asked to provide details of the teacher vacancies they have on Census day. Under the Department’s long-standing standard definition, a post is vacant if it is unfilled or temporarily-filled by a teacher on a contract of less than one term. The vacancy must have been advertised, be vacant at the time of the Census and there should still be an intention to fill it.
The complete guidance on how schools provide School Workforce Census data (including the vacancy data) is available at the following web link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workforce-census
The published data shows that 0.3% of teaching posts in state funded schools in England were vacant in November 2014.
We have changed the approach to initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for the 2016 to 2017 academic year. The National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) will not be allocating a specific number of places to individual organisations for postgraduate ITT courses due to start in the 2016 to 2017 academic year. Instead, eligible schools, school-centred initial teacher training providers (SCITTs) and higher education institutions (HEIs) will be able to recruit (subject to a limited number of controls) as many trainees as they feel they need – until the overall system has recruited sufficient trainees. For 2016/17 the number of places available for HEIs to recruit to (based on the estimate of trainee need as per the teacher supply model) can be found on GOV.UK:
Prior to 2016/17 we have operated an allocations system for School Direct lead schools, SCITTs and HEIs. For recent years detailed initial and final allocations data for HEIs can be found on GOV.UK:
For 2012/13 and earlier published allocations data can be found on the national archives (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130423140808/http:/education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/TIM/m002013/index.shtml). An extract detailing the relevant years is shown below. It should be noted that this data cannot be disaggregated into HEIs and non-HEIs but is included for information.
England | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 |
Primary | 18,050 | 18,640 | 19,730 | 20,840 |
Secondary by subject | ||||
Art | 595 | 515 | 320 | 320 |
Citizenship3 | 265 | 260 | 185 | 180 |
Economics, Dance, Media, Performing Arts, Other subjects5,6 | 295 | 260 | 210 | 220 |
English & Drama | 2,535 | 2,415 | 2,100 | 2,010 |
Geography | 715 | 665 | 615 | 625 |
History | 620 | 545 | 545 | 545 |
Mathematics2 | 2,685 | 2,635 | 2,635 | 2,635 |
Foreign Languages5 | 1,525 | 1,390 | 1,490 | 1,575 |
Music | 635 | 570 | 390 | 380 |
Physical Education | 1,380 | 1,180 | 890 | 835 |
Religious Education | 695 | 655 | 460 | 450 |
Science2,6 | 3,405 | 3,195 | 2,835 | 2,835 |
Technology4 | 2,770 | 2,560 | 1,880 | 1,845 |
Vocational subjects5,7 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
Margin of Flexibility/Secondary Reserve8 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
Total Secondary | 18,120 | 16,845 | 14,555 | 14,455 |
Primary and Secondary | 36,170 | 35,485 | 34,285 | 35,295 |
Notes:
... Not applicable
The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) have not reduced the funding for any higher education institutions (HEIs) who have trained more teachers than places allocated since the academic year 2010-11. The NCTL continues to have the right to impose penalties, but have not exercised this previously. The decision to exercise this right in the academic year 2016/17 will be made after institutions submit their trainee registration information.
Teaching continues to be a hugely popular career. The number of teachers returning to the classroom continues to rise and in 2015/16 we recruited more trainee primary school teachers than our target. We recognise the challenge school leaders face in some parts of the country, and are working to address this with action.
We are committed to attracting more top graduates into teaching, and have already announced increased bursaries and other financial incentives in those core academic subjects that help children achieve their potential; including tax free bursaries of up to £30,000.
We have significantly expanded the School Direct teacher training route which gives schools more opportunity to recruit and train their own high-quality teachers and future leaders. This year over 10,000 trainees are starting School Direct courses, up from 9,000 last year.
We have funded the expansion of Teach First into every region of England. Teach First will have the scope to reach 90 per cent of eligible schools by 2016, boosting our commitment to recruit more top teachers in rural, coastal and disadvantaged areas.
In addition, the Department recently announced the ‘Supporting Returning Teachers’ pilot, to support secondary schools to improve teacher recruitment in priority subjects by removing the barriers that prevent inactive but qualified teachers from returning to the classroom. As part of this pilot, we are helping schools to provide a tailored package of support for those wishing to return to the profession and offering grant funding of up to £1,900 per teacher recruited.
The Department for Education regularly refreshes its internal guidance on drafting responses to written parliamentary questions to ensure that it is up to date.
The table below shows the Department’s budget for each the financial year requested and the total figure spent on temporary agency staff and consultants. The table also shows the percentage of the budget spent on temporary agency staff and consultants.
| FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | FY 2012-13 | FY 2013-14 | FY 2014-15 | FY 2015-16 To Dec 2015 |
Department Total Budget | £58,242.15m | £56,407.12m | £57,956.19m | £57,094.72m | £59,483.69m | £55,874.16m |
Total for Contingent Labour and Consultancy | £36.07m | £10.18m | £7.60m | £10.27m | £16.36m | £16.44m |
Percentage of Department Budget | 0.06% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.03% |
The Department publishes data relating to the number of consultants and temporary agency staff each month. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
Temporary Agency staff are recruited in line with the Department’s policy, which states that ‘agency workers should be used when there is a need to cover a gap for a short period of up to a maximum of 12 weeks and/or when resources are required quickly.’
The Department publishes data relating to which part of the organisation consultants and temporary agency staff are engaged. Information relating to which directorate they are engaged with is not recorded. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
The Department does not record the equivalent Civil Service salary band for consultants and temporary staff.
The table below shows the Department’s budget for each the financial year requested and the total figure spent on temporary agency staff and consultants. The table also shows the percentage of the budget spent on temporary agency staff and consultants.
| FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | FY 2012-13 | FY 2013-14 | FY 2014-15 | FY 2015-16 To Dec 2015 |
Department Total Budget | £58,242.15m | £56,407.12m | £57,956.19m | £57,094.72m | £59,483.69m | £55,874.16m |
Total for Contingent Labour and Consultancy | £36.07m | £10.18m | £7.60m | £10.27m | £16.36m | £16.44m |
Percentage of Department Budget | 0.06% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.03% |
The Department publishes data relating to the number of consultants and temporary agency staff each month. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
Temporary Agency staff are recruited in line with the Department’s policy, which states that ‘agency workers should be used when there is a need to cover a gap for a short period of up to a maximum of 12 weeks and/or when resources are required quickly.’
The Department publishes data relating to which part of the organisation consultants and temporary agency staff are engaged. Information relating to which directorate they are engaged with is not recorded. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
The Department does not record the equivalent Civil Service salary band for consultants and temporary staff.
The table below shows the Department’s budget for each the financial year requested and the total figure spent on temporary agency staff and consultants. The table also shows the percentage of the budget spent on temporary agency staff and consultants.
| FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | FY 2012-13 | FY 2013-14 | FY 2014-15 | FY 2015-16 To Dec 2015 |
Department Total Budget | £58,242.15m | £56,407.12m | £57,956.19m | £57,094.72m | £59,483.69m | £55,874.16m |
Total for Contingent Labour and Consultancy | £36.07m | £10.18m | £7.60m | £10.27m | £16.36m | £16.44m |
Percentage of Department Budget | 0.06% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.03% |
The Department publishes data relating to the number of consultants and temporary agency staff each month. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
Temporary Agency staff are recruited in line with the Department’s policy, which states that ‘agency workers should be used when there is a need to cover a gap for a short period of up to a maximum of 12 weeks and/or when resources are required quickly.’
The Department publishes data relating to which part of the organisation consultants and temporary agency staff are engaged. Information relating to which directorate they are engaged with is not recorded. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
The Department does not record the equivalent Civil Service salary band for consultants and temporary staff.
The table below shows the Department’s budget for each the financial year requested and the total figure spent on temporary agency staff and consultants. The table also shows the percentage of the budget spent on temporary agency staff and consultants.
| FY 2010-11 | FY 2011-12 | FY 2012-13 | FY 2013-14 | FY 2014-15 | FY 2015-16 To Dec 2015 |
Department Total Budget | £58,242.15m | £56,407.12m | £57,956.19m | £57,094.72m | £59,483.69m | £55,874.16m |
Total for Contingent Labour and Consultancy | £36.07m | £10.18m | £7.60m | £10.27m | £16.36m | £16.44m |
Percentage of Department Budget | 0.06% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.03% |
The Department publishes data relating to the number of consultants and temporary agency staff each month. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
Temporary Agency staff are recruited in line with the Department’s policy, which states that ‘agency workers should be used when there is a need to cover a gap for a short period of up to a maximum of 12 weeks and/or when resources are required quickly.’
The Department publishes data relating to which part of the organisation consultants and temporary agency staff are engaged. Information relating to which directorate they are engaged with is not recorded. This data has been published for 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. The publication page for each of the years published can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-monthly-workforce-management-information
The Department does not record the equivalent Civil Service salary band for consultants and temporary staff.
Quarterly and annual statistics on Freedom of Information requests received by a number of central government monitored bodies (including all departments of state), including timeliness of reply, are published by the Ministry of Justice at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
The Department received 1,039 requests relating to academies and 666 relating to free schools between the first quarterly period of 2010 and third quarterly period of 2015. Of these, 854 and 470 respectively were answered within the 20 working day time limit.
The Department is not able to determine how many of these requests were related to the opening of particular schools without incurring disproportionate cost.
Legal costs relating to Freedom of Information are not held centrally by the Department and the cost of determining these over the past five years would exceed the disproportionate limit. The costs of internal lawyers’ time are not held in such a way that they can be separately identified.
The Secretary of State publishes statistics on the Department’s performance in responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, including on timeliness. These can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
Quarterly and annual statistics on Freedom of Information requests received by a number of central government monitored bodies (including all departments of state), including the number and outcomes of internal reviews of FOI responses, are published by the Cabinet Office at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
The Department for Education does not hold this information in the form requested and it could be calculated only at disproportionate cost.
Academy trust accounts have only been consolidated into those of the department from 2012-13 (academic year 2011/12). Analysis of academy trusts in deficit before then would require reviewing individually each trust’s accounts.
The National College for Teaching and Leadership is responsible for the management of initial teacher training places and national teacher recruitment.
Data on allocations to universities and higher education providers for 2015/16 can be found online in table A2b: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
We have introduced a new system for postgraduate ITT recruitment for the 2016/17 academic year. Full information has been published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
The National College for Teaching and Leadership is responsible for the management of initial teacher training places and national teacher recruitment.
Data on allocations to universities and higher education providers for 2015/16 can be found online in table A2b: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
We have introduced a new system for postgraduate ITT recruitment for the 2016/17 academic year. Full information has been published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-recruitment-controls
The Department does not hold this information in the form requested. Academies are operated by the legal entity of academy trusts, many of which operate multiple academies across multiple local authorities. As such, it is not possible to give local authority figures.
The Department does not hold this information in the form requested. Academies are operated by the legal entity of academy trusts, many of which operate multiple academies across multiple local authorities. As such, it is not possible to give local authority figures.
The data provided to the Department for Education by schools in the School Workforce Census, November 2014, shows that 72 per cent of classroom teachers earning £65,000 or more were women.
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries of varying amounts are available to eligible trainees, depending on the academic year in which they undertake their ITT, the subject in which they are training to teach and their highest relevant academic award. The amounts and eligible subjects change each year based on assessment of need informed by the targets and past performance.
Scholarships are awarded to those trainees who have gone through an additional selection procedure over and above that of their chosen ITT provider. These were available in 2012/13 in physics, and from 2013/14 in chemistry, computing, maths and physics.
The table below shows a breakdown of the total number of trainees who have received training bursaries and scholarships (where relevant) over the last full four academic years, 2011/12, 2012/13, 20/13/14 and 2014/15.
Table 1: Summary of the number of trainees that received training bursaries or scholarships in academic years 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15
Academic year | Bursary | Scholarship | Total |
2011/12 | 6348 | 0 | 6,348 |
2012/13 | 16759 | 87 | 16,846 |
2013/14 | 17434 | 201 | 17,635 |
2014/15 | 16359 | 422 | 16,781 |
It is for individual higher education institutions to determine their own admission arrangements. No assessment has been made of the effect on the academic performance of sixth form students of the use of unconditional offers of places by universities.
The Baker Dearing Educational Trust’s annual accounts are published each year. They show that the Baker Dearing Educational Trust has received grant funding to provide pre-approval support to groups that wish to apply to the Department to open a University Technical College as set out in the table below:
Calendar Year | Funding Received |
2011 | £151,923 |
2012 | £150,095 |
2013 | £153,458 |
2014 | £213,191 |
Between 1 January 2015 and 30 September 2015, the department paid the Baker Dearing Educational Trust grant funding of £116,912. The Baker Dearing Educational Trust’s accounts for 2015 will be published in due course.
The first grant to the Baker Dearing Educational Trust in April 2011 was awarded directly to the trust. Subsequent grants have been awarded after a competitive tender process.
Figures for the number of pupils enrolled in each UTC by age group are available in the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2015 statistics’, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2015
The figures for the numbers of pupils enrolled in each UTC for the academic year 2015/16 are not yet available.
Departmental advice for academies wishing to make a change to their existing arrangements is available on GOV.UK.
The new annexe will serve the same age range as the existing site of Weald of Kent Grammar School, which is 11-19. The admission arrangements apply across the whole school. It is the responsibility of the academy trust as the admission authority to ensure that admission arrangements are compliant with The School Admissions Code.
The newly expanded school will better meet the needs of school-age people in the community that it serves, with over 41% of students at the existing site already travelling from the Sevenoaks area.
Departmental advice for academies wishing to make a change to their existing arrangements is available on GOV.UK.
The new annexe will serve the same age range as the existing site of Weald of Kent Grammar School, which is 11-19. The admission arrangements apply across the whole school. It is the responsibility of the academy trust as the admission authority to ensure that admission arrangements are compliant with The School Admissions Code.
The newly expanded school will better meet the needs of school-age people in the community that it serves, with over 41% of students at the existing site already travelling from the Sevenoaks area.
Departmental advice for academies wishing to make a change to their existing arrangements is available on GOV.UK.
The new annexe will serve the same age range as the existing site of Weald of Kent Grammar School, which is 11-19. The admission arrangements apply across the whole school. It is the responsibility of the academy trust as the admission authority to ensure that admission arrangements are compliant with The School Admissions Code.
The newly expanded school will better meet the needs of school-age people in the community that it serves, with over 41% of students at the existing site already travelling from the Sevenoaks area.
The Department for Education is currently consulting on draft content for some of the GCSEs and A levels which will be first taught in September 2017. These are GCSEs in astronomy, business, economics, engineering, geology, psychology and sociology; and AS and A levels in environmental science, history of art, music technology and philosophy. The department is also consulting on content for GCSE, AS and A level in design and technology, for first teaching in September 2017. The results of these consultations will be announced later in the year.
GCSEs and A levels in other subjects are under development, for first teaching in September 2017, and there will be consultations in due course.
For all subjects, content documents have been drafted by awarding organisations, with advice from subject experts and oversight from the Department for Education and Ofqual.
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House Library.
The Department for Education is currently in discussion with awarding organisations, Ofqual and others, including foreign embassies, to consider how best to maintain as wide a range of languages as possible at GCSE and A level. We are continuing to develop proposals to achieve this and will hold a more formal, public consultation in due course. I announced on 22 July 2015 that to avoid any gap in provision in certain languages we will, where necessary, extend the timetable for awarding organisations to continue with existing qualifications until September 2018.
The majority of pupils at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 with diagnosed special educational needs (SEN) have progress measured in the same way as all pupils – from their end of Key Stage 1 results to their end of Key Stage 2 results.
The Department for Education has announced an expert review of assessment for pupils who, for many reasons, are working below the standard of national curriculum tests. This group of pupils includes some children with SEN, who may be assessed by p-scales or who may be working above p-scales but below the standard of the tests.
The review will advise on the best way to assess the attainment and progress of these pupils. The department expects the group carrying out the review to publish its final report by December 2015.
A list of entry level qualifications approved by the Secretary of State and other Ofqual regulated qualifications is published online at
http://register.ofqual.gov.uk/Qualification.
These are the qualifications that can be available to pupils under the age of 19 with special educational needs in maintained special schools, academies and free schools. Non-maintained special schools can offer a range of qualifications which are approved under section 98 of the 2000 Act. It is for the school to choose which of these qualifications are suitable to meet the needs of its particular pupils.
The Department for Education does not allocate monies to further education and sixth form colleges specifically to tackle homophobic and transphobic bullying. Institutions are expected to manage these issues as part of their duty of care to their students. They may use a portion of their revenue funding to do so as they see fit. However, the Department funds a range of other activities and initiatives, such as changes to teacher training, to confront this issue.
The Government has awarded £2million to eight charities in 2015/16 to provide specialist support and training for thousands of teachers to combat homophobic, transphobic and biphobic (HBT) bullying in primary and secondary schools. This is on top of £1.3 million given to various anti-bullying charities to combat all forms of bullying in schools. The Department also provided £4 million to charities to tackle bullying in schools in 2013-15.
Schools and colleges are responsible for their meals services and how and where they choose to buy their produce. The Department for Education does not collect this information.
The department is aware of the awarding organisations’ plans to withdraw qualifications in particular languages, and is working with those organisations and Ofqual to consider how best to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level.
The government wants to see all pupils provided with the opportunity to take a core set of academic subjects, including modern foreign languages. The number of pupils entering for a modern language GCSE has increased by 20% since 2010. There are considerable benefits to learning a second language, and the government is keen to see the range of languages at GCSE and A level preserved. To this end, the Secretary of State has written to all the exam boards to express her concern about their decision to stop awarding qualifications in some languages. She has asked the awarding organisations to continue to work with Ofqual and will launch a consultation on how best to secure the future availability of these qualifications.
The funding for all 16 to 19 pupils comes from the same funding formula, irrespective of whether the provision is a sixth form college, a further education college, a school, an academy or a free school.
There is no factor within the 16-19 funding formula that differentiates between type of institution.
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Commons Library.
In June 2014 Ofqual consulted on a set of proposals about how GCSE and A level subject availability should be determined from September 2017. The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/377804/2014-06-24-completing-gcse-as-and-a-level-reform.pdf
Ofqual’s consultation set out the proposed process for reform and principles it would use to determine if a subject is likely to lead to the development of the GCSE, AS and A level qualifications. Ofqual’s consultation states that exam boards are likely to take the opportunity to review their range of subjects.
Ofqual will announce in due course which A levels can be reformed for introduction in 2017.
The Department for Education does not hold data on the value of the VAT reimbursed to new academies, free schools and university technical colleges, and has not made an estimate.
All new academies, free schools and university technical colleges are entitled to reimbursement of VAT incurred on their non-business expenditure, under section 22B of the VAT Act 1994. The numbers of each education body created in each year (and which are still open) since 2010 are:
2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/2015 (up to 1 March 2015) | |
(a) academies including 16-19 academies | 895 | 920 | 1059 | 927 | 579 |
(b) free schools | 0 | 23 | 56 | 94 | 82 |
(c) university technical colleges | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 13 |
In addition, one new maintained school for 16 to 19 year old students opened in 2010/11 and is entitled to reimbursement of VAT.
The Department for Education does not hold data on the value of the VAT reimbursed to new academies, free schools and university technical colleges, and has not made an estimate.
All new academies, free schools and university technical colleges are entitled to reimbursement of VAT incurred on their non-business expenditure, under section 22B of the VAT Act 1994. The numbers of each education body created in each year (and which are still open) since 2010 are:
2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/2015 (up to 1 March 2015) | |
(a) academies including 16-19 academies | 895 | 920 | 1059 | 927 | 579 |
(b) free schools | 0 | 23 | 56 | 94 | 82 |
(c) university technical colleges | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 13 |
In addition, one new maintained school for 16 to 19 year old students opened in 2010/11 and is entitled to reimbursement of VAT.
Ofqual has already announced the A levels which will be withdrawn from September 2015. The list of subjects can be found here
Ofqual will announce the list of A levels that will no longer be available from September 2016 shortly.
In June 2014 Ofqual consulted on a set of proposals about how GCSE and A level subject availability should be determined from September 2017, and will announce its decisions shortly. Ofqual has been clear that any subject not reformed for first teaching in 2015 or 2016 must either be reformed for first teaching in 2017 or withdrawn.
The number of 16 to 18 year olds entered for one or more BTEC qualifications between 2007/08 and 2011/12 is shown in the tables below, by level and institution type. The analysis is based on data collected by the Department from examination awarding organisations. Figures for 2006/07 are not readily available.
Entry Level | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
Schools (state-funded, including special schools) | 300 | 300 | 300 | 500 | 600 |
Sixth Form Colleges | 100 | 100 | 100 | 200 | 200 |
FE Colleges | 2,400 | 2,700 | 4,100 | 7,500 | 8,000 |
Level 1 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
Schools (state-funded, including special schools) | 1,000 | 900 | 1,100 | 1,900 | 3,100 |
Sixth Form Colleges | 1,100 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,100 | 1,000 |
FE Colleges | 12,900 | 14,900 | 19,500 | 29,100 | 30,900 |
Level 2 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
Schools (state-funded, including special schools) | 13,400 | 14,700 | 16,000 | 17,200 | 16,900 |
Sixth Form Colleges | 5,500 | 6,000 | 6,600 | 8,900 | 7,600 |
FE Colleges | 40,200 | 47,500 | 54,700 | 61,300 | 61,800 |
Level 3 | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
Schools (state-funded, including special schools) | 8,300 | 13,300 | 20,300 | 31,100 | 41,700 |
Sixth Form Colleges | 7,400 | 9,900 | 12,400 | 17,100 | 20,700 |
FE Colleges | 66,500 | 82,300 | 95,300 | 103,700 | 121,500 |
Note that where a learner was entered for BTECs at more than one level, the highest level has been shown in the table.
It would be legally possible for a sixth form college to become an academy, but the Department is not currently able to consider applications. This is because we have not yet been able to resolve difficult issues such as the cost of VAT and the handling of existing debts held by sixth form colleges. We are looking at these issues, but cannot promise to solve them.
The number of 16 to 18 year olds entered for one or more BTEC qualifications in the 2012/13 academic year, the latest year of data available, is shown in the table below, by level and institution type. The analysis is based on data collected by the Department from examination awarding organisations.
Entry Level | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |
Schools (state-funded, including special schools) | 400 | 2,800 | 15,300 | 51,200 |
Sixth Form Colleges | 200 | 1,100 | 6,800 | 28,200 |
FE Colleges | 5,500 | 28,700 | 55,600 | 141,600 |
Note that where a learner was entered for BTECs at more than one level, the highest level has been shown in the table.
The Department for Education is working with stakeholders, experts and the Health and Safety Executive to thoroughly consider the latest evidence, and determine appropriate policy responses. We will provide an update on the management of asbestos in schools shortly.
This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. A copy of his reply will be placed in the library of the House.
The A-level Content Advisory Board (ALCAB) was established by the Russell Group in 2013, to review the subject content for facilitating A levels. The Department for Education provided £100,360.61 to ALCAB in 2013-14, and has provided £361,034.53 in 2014-15. No funds for ALCAB have been included in expenditure plans for 2015-16.
ALCAB have made their final recommendations for A and AS level subject content in mathematics, further mathematics, modern languages, ancient languages, and geography. These new qualifications are designed to prepare young people to meet the demands of universities and employers. We will soon be publishing our response to ALCAB’s recommendations.
The A-level Content Advisory Board (ALCAB) was established by the Russell Group in 2013, to review the subject content for facilitating A levels. The Department for Education provided £100,360.61 to ALCAB in 2013-14, and has provided £361,034.53 in 2014-15. No funds for ALCAB have been included in expenditure plans for 2015-16.
ALCAB have made their final recommendations for A and AS level subject content in mathematics, further mathematics, modern languages, ancient languages, and geography. These new qualifications are designed to prepare young people to meet the demands of universities and employers. We will soon be publishing our response to ALCAB’s recommendations.
The A-level Content Advisory Board (ALCAB) was established by the Russell Group in 2013, to review the subject content for facilitating A levels. The Department for Education provided £100,360.61 to ALCAB in 2013-14, and has provided £361,034.53 in 2014-15. No funds for ALCAB have been included in expenditure plans for 2015-16.
ALCAB have made their final recommendations for A and AS level subject content in mathematics, further mathematics, modern languages, ancient languages, and geography. These new qualifications are designed to prepare young people to meet the demands of universities and employers. We will soon be publishing our response to ALCAB’s recommendations.
The Department for Education announced the new Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) on 16 October 2014. Sixth form colleges can apply to the CIF for capital funding to improve the condition of their buildings and expand them. Details of the fund and the guidance surrounding applications are published online at:
www.gov.uk/condition-improvement-fund
The terms and conditions under which free schools and University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are funded are set out in a funding agreement between the Secretary of State and the school’s trust. A school’s funding agreement gives the Secretary of State a range of powers to intervene, including moving to close a school, if failure is identified. All free school and UTC funding agreements are available on the Department for Education's performance table website at http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/
The data for initial teacher training (ITT) allocations for School Direct and HE providers over the last 5 years is shown in the table below:
2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | |
HE providers | 28,669 | 28,841 | 26,790 | 23,095 | 22,224 |
School Direct | 0 | 772 | 9,586 | 15,254 | 17,609 |
The academic year 2013/14 was the first time School Direct information was available in the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Census.[1] The information is published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2013-to-2014
Information from the 2013/14 ITT Census shows that 6,580 new entrants were recruited to School Direct initial teacher training places. Of these, 2,890 (44%) were recruited to primary places (i.e. primary schools) and the remaining 3,690 (56%) to secondary schools.
The 2014/15 Census will be published on 27 November 2014.
[1] There was a small number of School Direct providers in the academic year 2012-13; however the data was aggregated for publication.
In the 2013/14 academic year we allocated extra School Direct requests, as well as allowing relinquishments. The School Direct initial allocations were 9,441 and the final allocations 9,586, meaning the net change for School Direct was an extra 145 places allocated throughout the year.
The initial and final allocations for the 2014/15 academic year are both published on the NCTL/Gov.uk website:
The Department for Education does not hold information on relinquishments in the format requested. The National College for Teaching and Leadership plans to publish updated management information by the end of December 2014. This will include line by line initial and final allocations by school (and provider) by subject and will enable the calculation of relinquishments.
The initial allocations for School Direct for the academic year were 15,254.
The initial allocations for the 2014/15 academic year were published in October 2013 and are published online at:
The Department for Education's ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education' guidance is clear that it applies to children under the age of 18 in both further education and sixth-form colleges.
We are currently considering requests for clarification to the guidance as part of our implementation review.
The London Academy of Excellence reported 395 pupils on roll in their Individual Learner Record return (R10) for 2013/14.
The London Academy of Excellence is the only 16-19 free school that provides data on its pupil numbers through the individualised learner record; this is the equivalent to the school's census return for further education institutions.
The enrolment numbers requested are not yet available. We are expecting to have them by the end of April.
The pupil numbers and funding covering all open academies and free schools for the academic year 2014/15 will be published in October. This will include the London Academy of Excellence.
All academy schools' funding agreements require them to comply with admissions legislation and the school admissions code. The Secretary of State for Education, can agree different arrangements (‘derogations') for individual academies and free schools but would only do so in limited circumstances where it would benefit local children.
Derogations are contained within the admission annex of the relevant funding agreements published at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/
All free schools are able to allocate places outside of local authority co-ordination in their first year; while all academy schools opened since 2012 can prioritise admissions for pupils eligible for the pupil and service premiums. We would also permit those opening before 2012 to change their funding agreements in order to give priority to such pupils.
Specific derogations have also been agreed for individual schools. As stated on the Department's website, where parents have worked hard to create a free school, we will consider requests to allow a limited number of founder's children in that school to get priority in admissions. We have permitted a small number of free schools to give priority to founder's children. These are detailed in the schools' funding agreements. Specific derogations are also in place for three academy schools set up under the previous administration, in Belvedere Academy (Liverpool) for a transitional period until 2015 to allow pupils on the roll of an independent school that used to be part of Belvedere to be admitted to the academy; in Priory LSST (Lincoln), to permit it to select 10% of its students by technology and in Ormiston Academy (Birmingham) to allow it – as a regional centre for the arts – to select the majority of its pupils by aptitude for the performing arts.
The information previously requested will be published in the statistical first release ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014', in June 2014.
This is in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 November 2013, Official Report column 750W, for the number of pupils enrolled in university technical colleges in autumn 2013.
Breakdowns by age will be published in the Statistical First Release, ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014', in June 2014.
The following tables show the proportion of 15, 16 and 17 year-olds (based on academic age) who had achieved A*-C grade in GCSE English and GCSE mathematics for the last 10 years. The figures cover young people who were in the state sector at academic age 15. Academic age refers to the age at the start of the academic year, so the majority of young people of academic age 15 will be in year 11. The data source used for this analysis does not differentiate between English Literature and English Language so may include those that have A*-C in either subject.
Tables that show key stage 4 results for English and English Literature are available here: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2012-to-2013-revised
Proportion achieving A*-C grade in GCSE English by academic age and cohort
Academic age | |||
Cohort academic age 15 in | 15 | 16 | 17 |
2001/02 | 53% | 55% | 56% |
2002/03 | 54% | 56% | 56% |
2003/04 | 54% | 56% | 57% |
2004/05 | 56% | 58% | 59% |
2005/06 | 57% | 59% | 60% |
2006/07 | 58% | 60% | 61% |
2007/08 | 59% | 62% | 63% |
2008/09 | 61% | 64% | 65% |
2009/10 | 66% | 68% | 69% |
2010/11 | 69% | 70% | 71% |
Source: DfE Young Person's Matched Administrative Dataset.
Proportion achieving A*-C grade in GCSE mathematics by academic age and cohort
Academic age | |||
Cohort academic age 15 in | 15 | 16 | 17 |
2001/02 | 47% | 48% | 49% |
2002/03 | 46% | 48% | 48% |
2003/04 | 47% | 49% | 50% |
2004/05 | 50% | 52% | 52% |
2005/06 | 51% | 54% | 54% |
2006/07 | 53% | 56% | 56% |
2007/08 | 56% | 58% | 59% |
2008/09 | 58% | 61% | 62% |
2009/10 | 62% | 64% | 65% |
2010/11 | 65% | 67% | 67% |
Source: DfE Young Person's Matched Administrative Dataset.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Cardiff West on 24 March, Official Report column 84W.
The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.
As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.
Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste
In response to PQ290397 Defra Group already procures 88% of the energy used in 2018/19 from renewable sources. In the core Department this rises to 99.9%. The Core Department’s energy policy states it will purchase renewable electricity from the Crown Commercial Services Electricity Frameworks.
The only reason the Core Department utilises non-renewable electricity is where the landlord purchases the electricity for a leased site and then recharges the Core Department.
The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.
As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.
Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste
The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.
As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.
Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste
The Resources and Waste Strategy analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country, setting out how we would tackle these challenges. Building on commitments in the Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, as part of that consultation the Government proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Following strong support for the proposal from consultation respondents, the Government is minded to take forward a mandatory labelling scheme subject to further analysis and legal considerations. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste
The Government recognises that innovation into compostable and biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impacts of plastics if they are disposed of in the right way. However, this is often not the case. If these plastics are put in the domestic waste bin, for example, they are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic. Furthermore, concerns persist that plastics which are claimed to be biodegradable, if littered or otherwise released into the environment in an uncontrolled way, may not degrade quickly or at all, and they can only be composted if they meet relevant standards.
As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The call for evidence closed on the 14 October 2019 and we are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy. We currently do not have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the matter of requiring any form of plastic packaging to be compostable.
The Resources and Waste Strategy analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country, setting out how we would tackle these challenges. Building on commitments in the Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, as part of that consultation the Government proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Following strong support for the proposal from consultation respondents, the Government is minded to take forward a mandatory labelling scheme subject to further analysis and legal considerations. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste
The Government recognises that innovation into compostable and biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impacts of plastics if they are disposed of in the right way. However, this is often not the case. If these plastics are put in the domestic waste bin, for example, they are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic. Furthermore, concerns persist that plastics which are claimed to be biodegradable, if littered or otherwise released into the environment in an uncontrolled way, may not degrade quickly or at all, and they can only be composted if they meet relevant standards.
As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The call for evidence closed on the 14 October 2019 and we are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy. We currently do not have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the matter of requiring any form of plastic packaging to be compostable.
Defra continues to work up the necessary legislation needed to prohibit the use of remote controlled hand-held electronic training collars for dogs which will be laid before Parliament in due course.
We do not hold the data requested for the number of invasive insect species in the UK as a result of the removal of compulsory tick treatment for pets at the UK border.
Tick surveillance has shown that tick distribution and abundance is changing throughout the UK for many reasons, including habitat and climate change. Small numbers of localised infestations with non-native tick species have been reported in recent years, and imported rescue dogs have been demonstrated to be a higher risk for carrying ticks or being infected with tick-borne diseases. For these reasons, Defra strongly encourages pet owners to treat their pets to safeguard their animals against ticks and tick transmitted diseases when travelling abroad. Further advice can be obtained from their local vet, and via the Public Health England (PHE) leaflet available on GOV.UK.
Whilst Defra has no immediate plans to amend the tick controls for pet animals entering the United Kingdom, we remain concerned about the threat of ticks and tick-borne disease. As such, a risk assessment is being planned to guide future policy and Defra continues to monitor the disease situation through the Tick Surveillance Scheme.
The second Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) published in 2017 identifies risks to domestic and international food production and trade as one of the UK’s top six risks from climate change. The second National Adaptation Programme (NAP) published in 2018, sets out a plan of actions across Government to address these risks (amongst others identified in the CCRA) over the following 5 years. Specifically the NAP includes actions to ensure a food supply chain which is resilient to the effects of a changing climate.
As part of the action referenced above, we are reviewing the UK Food Security Assessment, a comprehensive analysis of UK food security in a global context. It was last published as a whole document in 2010 although the underpinning statistics are updated and monitored on a regular basis. The Assessment has six themes: Global Food Security; Global Resource Sustainability; UK Availability and Access; UK Supply Chain Resilience; Household Food Security; Consumer Safety and Confidence.
The Government has also commissioned an independent review to develop recommendations to help shape a national food strategy. The National Food Strategy will carry out an integrated analysis of our food system, looking across the issues of food security, climate change and health to develop a series of recommendations for Government.
Food is one of the 13 Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Sectors in the UK. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have joint responsibility for food as CNI. Defra is responsible for security of supply, and the FSA for food safety and food crime. Food supply is a devolved issue. Defra produces a Sector Security and Resilience Plan (SSRP) which is updated annually and a summary is publicly available.
This document sets out the risk landscape through identifying the main risks to the sector as described in the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA). and how these are managed. The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. While there are no individually critical food assets, the main risks arise from recognised dependencies on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and data communications.
We have been meeting regularly with the food and farming sectors across the UK to understand and anticipate the potential impacts of a no deal scenario on our agri-food industry. The UK is a net importer of dairy but there are specific products of which we are net exporters. These may face tariff and non-tariff barriers to future EU export, and this will have a larger impact on Northern Ireland where they are heavily reliant on the Irish market. For wheat, for the last few years the UK has been a net importer, but it’s likely that this harvest will see us becoming a net exporter. MFN tariffs on wheat into the EU are extremely high, however, there is an underutilised tariff rate quota.
We currently import around 2/3rds of our bioethanol, mainly from the EU. The UK alcohol industry, particularly gin and vodka, is reliant on EU bioethanol. Bioethanol is also a vital processing aid in the production of food flavourings and colourings, household and industrial cleaners, toiletries, cosmetics and medicinal agents. Ethanol is a globally traded commodity and we do not anticipate any shortages as a result of our exit from the EU.
The Defra Group publishes its annual carbon footprint in its annual report and account. The latest version is published here:
This report provides an overview of Defra group performance against the GGC targets.
Defra Group emitted 61,128 tonnes CO2e in 2018/19.
We are mandated to use Crown Commercial Services Frameworks when it comes to selecting our energy suppliers. These are EDF, British Gas Business for electricity and Corona for Gas.
We are unable to comment on the selection criteria used in awarding these supplier a place on these frameworks.
88% of the electricity Defra Group purchases comes from renewable sources from these suppliers.
We have reduced our carbon emissions by 48.8% since 2010, through investments in energy saving technology across the group by retrofitting:
We are looking to continue this investment through our SR19/SR20 bids in sustainable technology.
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
As a customer of this country’s steel sector, Defra is already taking action to level the playing field for UK steel producers when competing for central Government contracts. Our commercial activities comply with current Government policy on steel procurement as set out in Cabinet Office guidance, Procurement Policy Note 11/16.
We can confirm that Defra, like the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is happy to commit to supporting the Charter where it is relevant to our commercial activities and where consistent with the relevant regulations.
Andrew Stephenson MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 29 May to ask my Department to sign the Steel Charter.
Andrew Stephenson MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 29 May to ask my Department to sign the Steel Charter.
The necessary legislation needed to prohibit the use of remote controlled hand-held electronic training collars for dogs, will be laid before Parliament in due course. Timings for this legislation will be announced in the normal way.
The Government will introduce the necessary legislation in due course.
Scunthorpe is in North Lincolnshire local authority area. The Council reported in its 2018 Air Quality Annual Status Report (ASR) that their PM2.5 monitors did not record a breach of the statutory limit value, which is 25 micrograms per metre cubed. The council also stated that they are running campaigns to discourage waste burning and bonfires to address PM2.5, and carrying out environmental permit improvement programmes.
Local authorities are required to work towards reducing emissions of PM2.5. North East Lincolnshire Council reported in its 2018 Air Quality Annual Status Report (ASR) that their PM2.5 monitors did not record a breach of the statutory limit value, which is 25 micrograms per metre cubed.
The council also stated that it is running campaigns to discourage waste burning and bonfires, and implementing environmental permit improvement programmes to address PM2.5. In 2018 Defra awarded North East Lincolnshire Council grant funding to help reduce emissions of PM2.5 resulting from the use of domestic wood burning stoves.
With specific regard to Scunthorpe, a recent report published on the Government’s UK Air website detailed the extensive measures undertaken to reduce the impacts from the steelworks in the area (particularly aimed at reducing concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene and the impact of PM2.5). The report can be found here: https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/bap-nickel-measures/bap_yorkshireandhumberside_UK0034_reportonmeasures_2016.pdf
The Secretary of State recently met representatives of sugar beet growers. The Secretary of State and I have also both discussed the sector with Associated British Foods, of which British Sugar is a subsidiary. Over the next few months Defra Ministers will continue to visit the British countryside and working farms to hear the views of industry and the public first hand. We want to support farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. We have a once in a generation opportunity to transform our food and farming policies and improve our environment and it is vital we are all part of this process.
The Secretary of State recently met representatives of sugar beet growers. The Secretary of State and I have also both discussed the sector with Associated British Foods, of which British Sugar is a subsidiary. Over the next few months Defra Ministers will continue to visit the British countryside and working farms to hear the views of industry and the public first hand. We want to support farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. We have a once in a generation opportunity to transform our food and farming policies and improve our environment and it is vital we are all part of this process.
The Government is working with leaders from across the food chain to understand the best way to support British food producers in the ongoing negotiations. Engagement has been focused on listening to our stakeholders to get a clear understanding of the processes and systems they currently use, to understand their concerns and what they see as the opportunities arising from leaving the EU.
It is a key priority to ensure that the views of all industry are represented in the ongoing negotiations, and it is our intention to further this engagement as the negotiations continue.
We have estimated that in 2016 the Eastern region produced sugar beet with a value of £100 million. This is based on regional farm statistics which are published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agriculture-in-the-english-regions.
The amount of steel procured by the Department continues to be negligible as was advised in PQ 50636 (October 2016) and PQ 60074 (January 2017).
We meet regularly at Ministerial and official level with representatives of the industry to discuss key issues and opportunities for the UK dairy sector.
I am aware of concerns regarding recommendations on the consumption of dairy products in the Eatwell Guide produced by Public Health England (PHE) in March 2016. PHE has prepared a report detailing the approaches, methods and decisions made in developing the Eatwell Guide. The report “From Plate to Guide: What, why and how for the Eatwell model” is available on the PHE website.
We meet regularly at Ministerial and official level with representatives of the industry to discuss key issues and opportunities for the UK dairy sector.
I am aware of concerns regarding recommendations on the consumption of dairy products in the Eatwell Guide produced by Public Health England (PHE) in March 2016. PHE has prepared a report detailing the approaches, methods and decisions made in developing the Eatwell Guide. The report “From Plate to Guide: What, why and how for the Eatwell model” is available on the PHE website.
We meet regularly at Ministerial and official level with representatives of the industry to discuss key issues and opportunities for the UK dairy sector.
I am aware of concerns regarding recommendations on the consumption of dairy products in the Eatwell Guide produced by Public Health England (PHE) in March 2016. PHE has prepared a report detailing the approaches, methods and decisions made in developing the Eatwell Guide. The report “From Plate to Guide: What, why and how for the Eatwell model” is available on the PHE website.
The consultation on reducing emissions from Medium Combustion Plants and Generators to improve air quality was published on 16 November this year and runs for 12 weeks. The proposals can be found on the GOV.UK web pages.
The application deadline for Countryside Stewardship multi-annual agreements is 30 September. Natural England will be looking to make offers to all successful applicants before the Autumn Statement.
On the 13 August, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that any agri-environment agreements signed or with funding agreements in place before the Autumn Statement will be fully funded, even when those agreements continue beyond the UK’s departure from the EU.
The Government will make a further announcement before the Autumn Statement about arrangements for assessing how guarantees could be given to projects that might be signed after the Autumn Statement, but while we remain a member of the EU.
Since 2011 we have committed over £2 billion to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, green transport initiatives and supporting Local Authorities to take action. The UK air quality plan for reducing nitrogen dioxide emissions, published on 17 December last year, sets out a comprehensive approach that will reduce health impacts and meet our environmental and legal obligations.
Local Authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing air quality under the Local Air Quality Management system. There are many schools located in local Air Quality Management Areas and Local Authorities are responsible for mitigation of pollution in these areas. Where new schools are planned in polluted areas, Local Authorities can require an assessment of pollutant levels and measures to be included to reduce the impact of pollution levels as planning conditions.
Local Authorities are key to achieving improvements in air quality and we are taking a number of steps to support them. Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme, the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund and the Clean Vehicle Technology Fund are some of the resources available to Local Authorities to take action.
DExEU is located across a number of buildings run by other government departments. We are not therefore responsible for the provision of energy to our buildings, or the tracking of the amount of energy used. DExEU continues to work with the Government Property Agency on the management of these arrangements, and in doing so ensuring that we play our part in working to the Government Greening Commitments.
Once we leave the EU we will no longer be bound by EU law but will be able to raise employment standards where it is right for the UK. The EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ensures that the rights and protections that workers in the UK currently enjoy will be retained when the UK leaves the EU. This applies to all workers, including fixed-term workers.
In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK nationals undertaking paid work, including in the music industry, in the EU should check with the Embassy of the countries they plan to travel to for what kind of visa or permit, if any, they will need. The FCO provides advice on their country-specific travel pages online. Information about entry requirements for those intending to work or provide a service in an EU Member State is listed on our advice pages for UK businesses on gov.uk.
The Political Declaration agreed between the UK and the EU acknowledges the importance of mobility for cultural cooperation. The UK has proposed reciprocal mobility arrangements with the EU that support businesses to provide services and move their talented people. We also want to discuss how to facilitate the temporary mobility of self-employed professionals and employees providing services. The detail of our reciprocal mobility arrangements will be discussed in the next phase of negotiations.
The Global Tuberculosis Report 2019 provides important evidence on the challenge in tackling tuberculosis as an issue of global public health importance. We remain committed to the global effort and the World Health Organisation End Tuberculosis Strategy. We are proud to be at the forefront of work to prevent, detect and treat tuberculosis, including funding research to develop new treatments to tackle drug resistant tuberculosis. Our commitment to provide £1.4 billion to the latest replenishment of the Global Fund will help provide tuberculosis treatment and care for over 2 million people.
A new tuberculosis vaccine could potentially have a significant effect on reducing tuberculosis deaths, and there is cautious optimism about the results for one potential vaccine, although there is still a very high degree of uncertainty for this high-risk research. DFID carefully considers robust data on specific vaccines before taking a view on its role in tackling a disease, including its relative impact alongside other established interventions.
DFID’s UK estate comprises two joint-headquarters, 22 Whitehall in London and Abercrombie House in Glasgow. DFID’s current energy supplier for both offices are EDF Energy for electricity. DFID’s energy is contracted via the Cabinet Office’s Crown Commercial Service Framework. DFID intends to take advantage of renewable energy options under the new Crown Commercial Service Framework when putting in place new energy supply arrangements. As highlighted in DFID’s 2018-19 Annual Report and Accounts (link), DFID has a strong record of improving environmental performance and is working towards meeting the Greening Government Commitment targets (link) in the UK by end of financial year 2019-20.
DFID’s UK estate comprises two joint-headquarters, 22 Whitehall in London and Abercrombie House in Glasgow. DFID’s current energy suppliers for both offices are EDF Energy for electricity and Corona for gas. DFID’s energy providers are selected through Crown Commercial Service (CCS) central Government frameworks, ensuring value for money and sustainability.
In 2018-19, DFID’s UK estate produced 1,396 tonnes CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) from energy consumption, as detailed in DFID’s 2018-19 Annual Report and Accounts. DFID’s greenhouse gas emissions in the UK estate have fallen by 63% since 2009-10. DFID is on track to exceed the Greening Government Commitment (GGC) target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by end of financial year 2019-20, compared to our 2009-10 baseline.
Reductions in energy consumption have been achieved through various initiatives including; introducing a green roof and biomass boiler in Abercrombie House, improving the insulation in Abercrombie