Asked by: Steve Race (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with Skills England on the use of the growth and skills levy to support people to reskill in the technical and digital fields.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is developing a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education and skills to break down barriers to opportunity and support employers to develop the skilled workforces they need to help drive economic growth.
Skills England has been established to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. It will work closely with the Industrial Strategy Council and the Migration Advisory Committee to achieve this.
The government’s new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors. Digital and Technologies has been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is considering how it supports this sector to develop the skills needed now and in the future.
Additionally, the government is reforming the apprenticeship levy into a new growth and skills levy that will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with the Industrial Strategy. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.
Skills England was asked to engage with employers and other key partners regarding early priorities for the new growth and skills offer over the autumn. It has spoken to over 700 stakeholders, including representatives in the digital and technology sector, and has shared its findings with the department. Skills England will publish its findings from this engagement process in early 2025.
Asked by: Steve Race (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to expand AI apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to ensuring both learners and employers have access to crucial digital and artificial intelligence (AI) skills that have the potential to increase productivity and create new high value jobs in the UK economy. To achieve this, the government is reforming the skills system.
The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and to help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs.
In addition, the government’s new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors. Digital and Technologies has been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is considering how it supports this sector to develop the skills needed now and in the future.
The government is also reforming the apprenticeships levy into a growth and skills levy which will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers. As a key first step toward greater flexibility, we are introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter duration apprenticeships in targeted sectors. The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will be reduced to eight months, down from the current minimum of 12 months from August 2025. Three trailblazers in the key priority sectors of green energy, healthcare and film/TV production will be among the first to pioneer, and benefit from, the flexibilities that the new shorter duration apprenticeships offer. These will support more people to gain high quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country.
Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in the digital sector. Employers have developed more than 30 digital apprenticeships, including Level 3 Digital Support Technician and Level 5 Data Engineer.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s Digital Skills and Characteristics Framework also supports the inclusion of appropriate digital content such as AI and data driven technologies in new and revised occupational standards at all levels, ensuring that occupational standards keep pace with technological advancements and market trends.
Asked by: Steve Race (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking through Young Futures Hubs to help tackle violence against women and girls.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has set an ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. To achieve this, we plan to reduce the current levels of offending and reoffending and prevent abuse from happening altogether.
This focus on prevention also sits at the heart of the Young Futures programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures prevention partnerships.
Young Futures Hubs will be set up across the country, bringing together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling young people to thrive.
Young Futures Prevention Partnerships will bring local partners together to intervene earlier to ensure that vulnerable children at-risk of being drawn into a variety of crime types (including anti-social behaviour, knife crime and violence against women and girls) are identified and offered support in a more systematic way.
Officials from across government, including my department, the Home Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice are working together using their various bodies of evidence of what works to shape Young Futures Hubs.
Asked by: Steve Race (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of SEND services.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The Conservatives have left a trail of devastation across education and that is made clear by current SEND provision. That is what this Labour government inherited.
We recognise that the current special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is not working and that, for far too long, too many children and families have been failed by it.
This government is determined to address the problems and restore parents’ trust that their children will get the support they need. The department has been restructured so that SEND is now treated as part of mainstream schooling, but the government knows that this is only a small step on the road to fixing the system.
The department will listen to and work with families to fix the foundations and deliver long-term renewal.
The department will work with families and sector partners to improve the system, improving inclusivity in mainstream schools, and ensuring special schools work for children and young people with the most complex needs.