Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of digital skills training for women in rural communities.

Digital skills are crucial to the delivery of all five missions of government, particularly opportunity and growth, providing the pipeline of skilled workers needed to grow the economy.

To support the digital skills needs in the country, adults aged 19 and over with low digital skills are fully-funded through the digital statutory entitlement to study Essential Digital Skills qualifications or digital Functional Skills qualifications at entry level and level 1.

The department funds essential digital skills provision through the adult skills fund (ASF). Currently, approximately 60% of the ASF is devolved to nine Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Mayor of London, acting where appropriate through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of ASF-funded adult education for their residents. The Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF to meet the needs of their communities.

For those who are not ready for formal digital qualifications, many local areas use tailored learning within the ASF to deliver flexible courses that help adults to get online and equip them with the essential digital skills they need for life, work and further learning.

The department also funds Skills Bootcamps, which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview with an employer on completion. Training is designed and delivered in partnership with employers, ensuring we deliver the skills needed by employers in priority sectors.

Evaluation of Skills Bootcamps delivery shows that female representation was higher in Skills Bootcamps in Digital (42%) than the national gender composition of the digital workforce (29%).

Developed in partnership with employers, there are currently 33 apprenticeship standards spanning levels 3 to 7 in digital occupations, including at degree level and in areas like cyber and artificial intelligence (AI). The department’s reformed growth and skills levy will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers and is aligned with its industrial strategy to create routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, including in digital.

Across government, the new Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors in which the UK excels today and will propel it forwards tomorrow. Digital technologies have been identified as one of the eight growth-driving sectors and the department is currently consulting on the barriers to growth, including skills, in this sector.

Furthermore, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology has commissioned an AI Opportunities Action Plan, which will set out the essential role that equipping the UK’s workforce with the right skills and attracting top talent will play in supporting the growth of the AI sector.