Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of weeks for which a person can undertake training and remain eligible for universal credit.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Work Coaches recommend options to customers to address skills barriers and provide support for them to access a wide range of provision. Which can include essential Maths, English and Digital Skills, and other vocational opportunities such as Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).
Whilst periods of training are generally expected to be directly linked to customer’s work search goals, we have increased the amount of time Universal Credit customers in the All Work Related Requirements conditionality group can take part in full time, work-related training for up to 16 weeks in Great Britain.
Where a longer period of training is required to equip someone with the skills for work whilst also maintaining employment, other options are available including apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are designed by employers and open to learners of all ages, with vocational courses ranging from level 2 up to post-graduate qualifications.
Asked by: Lord Holmes of Richmond (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the educational attainment gap for blind and visually impaired students at (1) Key Stage 2, (2) GCSE, and (3) A Level; by what date, if any, they aim to eradicate that gap; and what additional research have they undertaken, or do they intend to undertake, to support work in this area.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Data is collected on pupils receiving either special educational needs support or have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and their primary category of need. The links below provide the attainment of pupils assessed as having a primary need of ‘visual impairment’ and how this compares to other pupils:
The department wants all children and young people to be able to reach their full potential and to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is creating a new single national special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision system for how needs are identified and met across EHC. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available in mainstream settings, including for children with visual impairments.
The department is committed to ensuring a steady supply of teachers of children with sensory impairments in both specialist and mainstream settings. To teach a class of pupils with sensory impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification (MQSI). There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh available from September 2024. In addition, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is developing a new occupational standard for teachers of sensory impairment, which is expected to launch in 2025.
The national curriculum tests are designed and modified to ensure they are accessible to visually impaired pupils. Access arrangements can be agreed with exam boards before an assessment for candidates with specific needs, including SEND, to help them access assessments to show what they know and can do without changing the demands of the assessment. The intention behind an access arrangement is to meet the needs of an individual candidate without affecting the integrity of the assessment.
Children and young people with SEND have more access to assistive technology (AT) following investment in remote education and accessibility features which can reduce or remove barriers to learning. Following the promising results of a pilot training programme in 2022 to increase mainstream school staff confidence using assistive technology, the government extended training to capture more detailed data on the impact on teachers and learners. The independent evaluation will be published in May 2024. The department is also now researching the AT skills required by staff at special schools, including those working with blind and visually impaired students.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of areas where there is a shortage of childcare facilities and providers to provide their commitment of free childcare hours.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).
To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.
The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.
On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional support they are providing to enable local authorities and childcare providers to meet demand arising from their commitment to provide free childcare hours.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).
To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.
The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.
On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase nursery staff in the North West, in the context of the Government's plans to expand the number of free childcare places.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
By the 2027/28 financial year, the government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
In February, the department launched a new national recruitment campaign for the early years and childcare sector, ‘Do something BIG. Work with small children’, and a financial incentives pilot. Eligible joiners and returners will receive a tax-free payment of up to £1,000. This followed the introduction of workforce flexibilities to the Early Years Foundation Stage in January.
The department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps for Early Years, which will create a pathway to accelerated Level 3 Early Years Apprenticeships. The number of paid childcare staff in 2023 is estimated at 347,300 compared to 334,400 paid childcare staff in 2022, an increase of 3.86%. Additionally, the department has invested up to £180 million in providing an early years education recovery package of workforce training, qualifications and support and guidance for the early years sector. This includes additional places for early years initial teacher training (EYITT), and new level 3 qualifications criteria for early years educators to ensure higher quality training and better care for children. The new criteria will come into effect from September 2024.
For the North West, the total number of staff working in group and school based providers has increased from 39,394 in 2018 to 42,027 in 2023, an increase of 6.68%.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money has been transferred to small and medium-sized enterprises by levy-paying businesses using their apprenticeship service account to transfer unused levy funds in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, and (3) 2022–23.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Transfers are a great way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities, to help meet local or sector specific needs.
As announced this week, from April the department are increasing the proportion of their funds that levy-paying employers can transfer to support more apprenticeships in other businesses, including those in their local area or supply chain, from 25% to 50%. This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing their costs and enabling them to benefit from the support and experience that larger employers can provide.
Hundreds of large levy-paying employers have already taken advantage of the opportunity to transfer their unused levy funds to other businesses. Since September 2021, over 550 employers including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £37 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes.
The below table shows the number of non-levy paying employers that have received levy transfer funding and the value of that funding. It is extremely encouraging that use of transfers continues to increase year-on-year. The department does not hold transfer data specific to SMEs (currently defined as businesses with fewer than 250 employees) but can confirm that most non-levy paying employers are SMEs.
Financial Year | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
Number of non-levy employers receiving transfer funding | 2,370 | 3,700 | 5,080 |
Value of funding transferred (£ million) | £13 | £19 | £26 |
To note: Values include new apprenticeship starts and those who started in previous years but are still being funded. If an employer receives a transfer for an apprenticeship which continues across more than one financial year, they will appear in each year’s employer count. Values are actual payments made to date - they do not represent the total committed cost of transfers into future months and years.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many small and medium-sized enterprises have received funds for apprenticeship training as a result of levy-paying businesses using their apprenticeship service account to transfer unused levy funds in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, and (3) 2022–23.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Transfers are a great way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities, to help meet local or sector specific needs.
As announced this week, from April the department are increasing the proportion of their funds that levy-paying employers can transfer to support more apprenticeships in other businesses, including those in their local area or supply chain, from 25% to 50%. This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing their costs and enabling them to benefit from the support and experience that larger employers can provide.
Hundreds of large levy-paying employers have already taken advantage of the opportunity to transfer their unused levy funds to other businesses. Since September 2021, over 550 employers including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £37 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes.
The below table shows the number of non-levy paying employers that have received levy transfer funding and the value of that funding. It is extremely encouraging that use of transfers continues to increase year-on-year. The department does not hold transfer data specific to SMEs (currently defined as businesses with fewer than 250 employees) but can confirm that most non-levy paying employers are SMEs.
Financial Year | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
Number of non-levy employers receiving transfer funding | 2,370 | 3,700 | 5,080 |
Value of funding transferred (£ million) | £13 | £19 | £26 |
To note: Values include new apprenticeship starts and those who started in previous years but are still being funded. If an employer receives a transfer for an apprenticeship which continues across more than one financial year, they will appear in each year’s employer count. Values are actual payments made to date - they do not represent the total committed cost of transfers into future months and years.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) Level 4 and (b) Level 5 apprenticeships have been started in South Holland and the Deepings constituency since 2019 as of 20 March 2024.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Level 4 and 5 apprenticeship starts in South Holland and The Deepings constituency can be found in the following table:
Academic year | Level 4 | Level 5 |
2018/19 | 70 | 50 |
2019/20 | 40 | 60 |
2020/21 | 50 | 60 |
2021/22 | 60 | 70 |
2022/23 | 80 | 60 |
2023/24 reported to date | 50 | 30 |
Total | 340 | 330 |
Note:
(1) Figures for 2023/24 are provisional and cover the first two quarters (Aug 2023 to Jan 2024). All other years are final, full-year figures.
(2) Apprenticeship start volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.
(3) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record.
Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the apprenticeships publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of access to auditory-visual therapy for deaf children; and what steps she is taking to ensure sufficient access to that therapy as part of SEND support in schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s ambition is that all children and young people, no matter their needs, receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
The department is creating a new single national special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision system for how needs are identified and met across education, health and care. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available in mainstream settings, including for children with hearing impairments.
Early intervention of SEND can allow children to thrive and the early years sector plays an important role in ensuring that the right support is put in place for children as they prepare for school. That is why Level 2 and 3 early years educator qualifications include SEND content. Alongside this, the Early Years Education Recovery Programme includes training for up to 7,000 early years special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and a variety of training offers with SEND content, including Child Development Training and the national professional qualification in early years leadership.
The department is committed to ensuring a steady supply of teachers of children with hearing impairments in both specialist and mainstream settings. To teach a class of pupils with hearing impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant Mandatory Qualification for Sensory Impairment (MQSI). There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh from September 2024. In addition, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is developing a new occupational standard for teachers of Sensory Impairment, expected to be available from September 2025. Finally, children and young people with special educational needs have more access to assistive technology (AT) following investment in remote education and accessibility features, which can reduce or remove barriers to learning.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on levels of adult literacy in the UK; and what steps she is taking to increase adult literacy levels.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department recognises the importance of good literacy skills, both in work and everyday life. Securing good levels of literacy has a positive impact on participation in society, improves earnings and employment opportunities and opens doors to further learning.
The department participates in the OECD’s International Survey of Adult Skills, which was last conducted in England and 24 other countries in 2011-12. The results show that 16% of 16-65-year-olds have the literacy skills of an 11 year old, or lower. The next survey is due to report in late 2024. A link to view the OECD adult skills surveys can be found here: https://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/.
The government has also conducted the Skills for Life survey in 2011 which provided a national profile of adult literacy, numeracy, and ICTskills, and assessed the impact that different levels of skills had on people’s lives. The survey findings were published in 2012 and reported that, in England, 15% of the working age population have the literacy skills of an 11 year old, or lower (an estimated 5 million people).
The department also gathers data annually from providers delivering government funded adult further education (FE) and skills provision in England. The latest statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-and-skills-march-2024.
To improve essential literacy and numeracy skills, a legal entitlement was introduced through the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (Sections 87-89).This legal entitlement can be viewed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/22/part/4/chapter/1/crossheading/education-and-training-for-persons-aged-19-or-over-etc.
Through its legal entitlement, the department provides fully-funded study for adults who do not have essential literacy skills up to the equivalent of a GCSE grade 4/C or higher. In the 2022/23 academic year, around 223,000 learners participated in a literacy course funded through the entitlement.
The department supports all adults for whom English is not their first language to secure the English language skills they need. Adults are fully-funded or co-funded to study English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and qualifications up to and including GCSE 4/C equivalent. The number of learners participating in ESOL courses and qualifications continues to grow, with around 144,000 learners in the 2022/23 academic year. Already, round 120,000 learners have participated in ESOL courses in the first two quarters of this academic year.
The department recognises that community learning within its Adult Education Budget (AEB) can play a valuable role in helping individuals improve their literacy, particularly for learners where a qualification is not the most appropriate first step.
Currently 60% of the AEB has been devolved to 9 Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and delegated to the Mayor of London, working where appropriate through the Greater London Authority (GLA). These authorities are responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the AEB in their local areas, including funding of English and maths statutory entitlements. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is responsible for the remaining AEB in non-devolved areas where colleges and other training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB to best meet the needs of their communities.