Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the ability of organisations in the creative industries to utilise the apprenticeship levy.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The apprenticeship levy is at the centre of our reforms to build an employer-led apprenticeship system and transform the quality of apprenticeship training. We continue to engage with employers in all sectors of the economy to help them realise the benefits of apprenticeships. In the creative sector, we work closely with industry bodies, such as the Creative Industries Council, Creative and Cultural Skills, and ScreenSkills.
In response to this engagement, we introduced transfers in 2018 to offer employers greater flexibility. This gives apprenticeship levy-paying employers the freedom to transfer funds to any employer, including smaller employers in their supply chain, or Apprenticeship Training Agencies and charities. In April 2019, we increased the cap from 10% to 25% of employers’ funds that can be transferred each year. An Apprenticeship Training Agency acts as the apprentice’s employer throughout their training, allowing them to complete the 12-month minimum apprenticeship duration through a series of shorter placements with different employers.
We are also working with employers and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education to prioritise the development of 17 new standards in the creative sector to help address skills gaps.
We recognise that some employers in the creative industries experience challenges in utilising the apprenticeship levy to support starts in their business or the wider sector. The Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are working with ScreenSkills and industry partners on an innovative film and TV pilot which will enable 20 apprentices to benefit from hands-on experience on the sets of major films and TV shows. Launched on 23 January, it will explore a new model for how apprenticeships can be used to deliver multiple placements on film and TV productions, as well as addressing skills shortages.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted registered nurseries have been sold to new owners in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Ofsted registered (a) nurseries and (b) childminders have closed for business in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Loneliness Strategy, published in October 2018, what progress his Department has made on publishing guidance on schools maximising the use of their premises, as well as other forms of income generation that can be beneficial to the community.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department intends to publish guidance for schools on income generation in due course. The guidance will set out different types of income generation activities, including letting out premises, working with local businesses, selling goods and services and applying for grants.
Our aim is to level the playing field between schools in their ability to generate income and help them build strong community links at the same time.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 5 June, 2019, Official Report, Column HL122. what the evidential basis for the statement that there are now more children’s centres than at any time prior to 2008.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Based on information supplied by local authorities, as at 31 May 2019, there were 2,353 children’s centre and 700 linked sites[1] open to families and children providing children's centre services as part of a network.
Sure Start children’s centres were rolled out in three phases between 2004 and 2010. A National Audit Office memorandum to the Children, Schools and Families Committee in 2009[2] published data on the number of children’s centres rolled out in phases 1 and 2 as set out in the table below.
| Number of centres during each phase | Cumulative total |
Phase 1 2004-2006 | 1126 | 1126 |
Phase 2 2006-2008 | 1781 | 2907 |
There are no published records of the number of children’s centres that had been opened by the end of the 2007 calendar year. The 2008 statistic is based on management information that the Department for Education holds on the pattern of children’s centre designations[3] during the roll out of Phase 2 children’s centres between 2006 and 2008. This data shows there were fewer than 2,300 children’s centres prior to 2008.
The Department for Education will publish the management information in an ad-hoc statistical release in due course.
[1] Source: Get Information about Schools database https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
[2] National Audit Office memorandum to Children’s Schools and Families Committee, 2009 https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/0910_sure_start_memorandum.pdf
[3] To count towards children’s centre targets, centres were officially ‘designated’, meaning that they were open and providing some services, with plans in place to deliver all the required services within two years.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of proposals by ScreenSkills to reform the apprenticeship levy to (a) increase the number of paid apprenticeships in the film and TV industry and (b) enable apprenticeship training agencies to employ and pay the wages of apprentices and to arrange apprentice training with a number of different engagers on short-term projects; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne Milton
We have a well-established working relationship with ScreenSkills and welcome their feedback on the impact of our apprenticeship reforms on the film and television industries. This, together with feedback from our broader engagement with employers, is informing our ongoing evaluation of the impact of the reforms in England and our work to promote apprenticeships under the Creative Industries Sector Deal.
In my capacity as the Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, I met the CEO of ScreenSkills in October 2018 to discuss their work to support the take-up of apprenticeships in the UK’s world-leading film and television industries. Officials from the Education and Skills Funding Agency continue to meet representatives of the organisation.
Levy-paying employers can already transfer funds to an Apprenticeship Training Agency, which acts as the apprentice’s employer. We recognise that this model can provide a valuable opportunity for employers, including those in the film and television industries and the creative sector more generally, to realise the benefits of apprenticeships for their business. We are continuing to engage with ScreenSkills to explore how such arrangements could support the creative industries.
In response to feedback from employers in a range of sectors, we have recently raised the cap on the amount of funds that levy-payers can transfer from 10% to 25% of the annual value of funds entering their apprenticeship service accounts.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of disadvantaged children will not benefit from the funding for free school meals and activities during the summer break announced on 8 May 2019.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We do not know the number of children that will not benefit from the funding for free school meals (FSM) and activities during the 2019 summer holidays. This would depend on how many children in the funded areas choose to take up the offer of free holiday provision.
Our 2019 programme will take place in 11 local authority areas. It will enable us to test the effectiveness of a model of local coordination of free holiday club provision. We are carrying out an independent evaluation of this programme and will publish the results of this, including information on attendance.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have applied to participate in the pilot test of reception baseline assessment in the Autumn term of 2019-20.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The next stage in the reception baseline assessment development process is a large-scale voluntary pilot, commencing in September 2019. Schools were able to sign up to take part in the pilot from 1 March to 5 April 2019. We have received a very good response; we intend to publish the number of schools that have applied to participate in the pilot in the near future.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date the Government will publish the results of the Apprenticeship Pay Survey 2018.
Answered by Anne Milton
A publication date has not been set yet. The report is still being drafted and we will set a publication date once we have a final version of the report.
Asked by: Tracy Brabin (Labour (Co-op) - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department collects to monitor the effectiveness of money allocated from the public purse to early years early intervention strategies in (a) Kirklees and (b) Yorkshire.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Public Health Outcomes Framework is a comprehensive source of data at local authority unitary, county and district level on the extent to which local strategies are successful and effective in improving outcomes for children in the early years. It is available at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework.
The framework includes data on outcomes for children aged 5 from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). Further information on the EYFSP is broken down by local authority and available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results-2017-to-2018. We do not publish this data at constituency or combined authority level.