Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she made of the number of apprenticeship starts in Aldridge-Brownhills constituency in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2023-24.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of apprenticeship starts in the Aldridge-Brownhills constituency are published in the apprenticeships accredited official statistics publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2d7a8365-ec14-40eb-96d3-08dd85738b16.
These were last published in March 2025. They include full year figures for the 2023/24 academic year, and year to date figures for the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ringfencing the skills levy for funding apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 7 April 2025 to Question 40142.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage SMEs to participate in the apprenticeships scheme.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills to the answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37179.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing measures in connection with the Growth and Skills Levy to protect funding for (a) SMEs and (b) young people.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government has committed to widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners and align with the industrial strategy.
As a first step, this will include shorter duration apprenticeships and new foundation apprenticeships for young people. These will help more people learn high-quality skills at work, give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives, and support the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth.
Construction will be one of the key sectors that will benefit from foundation apprenticeships from August 2025, backed by an additional £40 million, and shorter duration apprenticeships will also be possible from August 2025.
The government recognises the importance of ensuring the growth and skills offer supports small and medium-sized employers (SMEs) to access apprenticeships. Development of the offer will be informed by the results of Skills England’s analysis and engagement, including on where flexibilities will be most helpful for employers, including SMEs.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of fully funding apprenticeships for under-22s in SMEs on apprenticeship starts to date.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Since April 2024, the government pays 100% of apprentice training costs, up to the funding band maximum, for non-levy paying employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 21, and apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care plan or have been in local authority care.
Apprenticeship statistics, including starts by young people, can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing one-word Ofsted judgements on parental (a) engagement and (b) understanding.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new Full-Time Equivalent jobs in Ofsted are being created to support the transition to School Report Cards.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
These are matters for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support state schools with trends in the level of demand for state school places following the application of VAT to private school fees.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in HM Treasury’s tax information and impact note published on GOV.UK, the introduction of VAT is anticipated to have a very limited impact on the number of pupils in state and private schools. The department has not seen any evidence that contradicts the expectations set out in the government’s impact assessment.
Ending tax breaks on private schools will help raise around £1.8 billion per year by the 2029/30 financial year for investment in public services, including state-funded education which serves 94% of children. This will help break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education.
Local authorities are responsible for securing school places for children in their area. Pupil numbers in schools fluctuate for a number of reasons, and the school funding system is already set up to manage that. The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support the provision of mainstream school places, based on local authorities’ own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the application of VAT on private school fees on the (a) accessibility and (b) quality of state education.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in HM Treasury’s tax information and impact note published on GOV.UK, the introduction of VAT is anticipated to have a very limited impact on the number of pupils in state and private schools. The department has not seen any evidence that contradicts the expectations set out in the government’s impact assessment.
Ending tax breaks on private schools will help raise around £1.8 billion per year by the 2029/30 financial year for investment in public services, including state-funded education which serves 94% of children. This will help break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education.
Local authorities are responsible for securing school places for children in their area. Pupil numbers in schools fluctuate for a number of reasons, and the school funding system is already set up to manage that. The department provides capital funding through the basic need grant to support the provision of mainstream school places, based on local authorities’ own pupil forecasts and school capacity data.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of children who transferred from private to state schools in the first three months of (a) 2024 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Data on pupil numbers in the state-funded and private school sectors is collected in January and published in June each year. This shows how pupil numbers at different types of school have changed over time.
In January 2023 there were 591,954 pupils in independent schools. In January 2024, this number had increased by 1,532 to 593,486.
This data is published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f3ef2b69-9a02-4040-1972-08dd660c60ce. Pupil numbers for January 2025 will be published in June 2025.