Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding was provided (a) in total and (b) per-person for each employment programme operated by his Department in the Borough of Barnsley in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic contribution of Ukrainian refugees who are on temporary visas.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The government has not made a specific assessment of the economic contribution of Ukrainian refugees on temporary visas, as it does not hold the necessary data to measure this.
Employment data is published on Ukrainian nationals in the UK, (this also includes Ukrainians not on any of the dedicated visa schemes) which can be found here:
Analysis of Ukrainian nationals entering employment in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Lord Polak (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Autumn Statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 22 November (HC Deb cols 325–357), whether they have any plans to provide an enhanced package of financial support for care leavers aged 18 to 25 when they leave the care system.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the challenges that care leavers face as they make the transition from care to living independently and have put in place a range of support measures.
To help care leavers to engage in education, employment and training (EET), the department has increased the Care Leavers’ Apprenticeships Bursary from £1,000 to £3,000. Local authorities are required to support care leavers to engage in EET, including providing a £2,000 bursary if the young person is studying in higher education. Care leavers are also a priority group for the 16 to19 bursary if studying in further education (up to £1,200 per year).
In addition, the department has increased the leaving care allowance from £2,000 to £3,000 to enable care leavers to furnish their first home, and the Junior ISA scheme provides an initial £200 payment to open a savings account for all children who have been in care continuously for 12 months. Anyone can pay money into the accounts, and the funds can then be accessed by the young person when they leave care at age 18.
Improving outcomes for care leavers is a cross-government priority and there are a range of ways in which the government is supporting care leavers to reduce their financial vulnerability, including:
Local authorities are required to publish their ‘local offer’ for care leavers, setting out care leavers’ legal entitlements, plus any further discretionary financial support that the local authority provides, such as Council Tax Exemptions, free leisure passes and rent deposit/guarantor schemes.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1812 on Defence: Employment, whether his Department has established partnerships with (a) universities and (b) other educational institutions to ensure access to skilled graduates.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence has established strong partnerships with a range of universities and other educational establishments to ensure access to skilled graduates. For example, the Armed Forces have embedded training and engagement organisations within universities which support graduates in aligning their post-study employment with a career in the Armed Forces. Organisations such as the University Royal Naval Units, University Officers’ Training Corps, University Air Squadrons all provide access to highly motivated and skilled graduates.
In addition, Defence offers bursaries through the Defence Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Undergraduate Sponsorship (DSUS) Scheme and conducts a wide range of outreach activities. These seek to highlight opportunities in Defence, and how graduates can enjoy fulfilling careers as a result of their qualifications and skills. A number of educational establishments deliver qualifications aligned to employment in the Armed Forces as well as signposting Armed Forces employment through their Careers and Employability Services.
Defence also utilises its educational partnerships to upskill Armed Forces personnel with Further or Higher qualifications for the benefit of Defence outputs. These arrangements range from mandatory programmes aligned to specific Armed Forces roles through to voluntarily accessed personal development programmes. The Armed Forces Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme provides significant access support to those personnel voluntarily undertaking such further study. Graduate and masters’ level apprenticeships also develop higher-level skills for Defence in partnership with multiple Universities and other educational institutions.
The Ministry of Defence is also part of the Defence Suppliers Framework (DSF), a collaboration with UK Defence Industries to look at the skills needed for the UK Defence Industrial Base (DIB). The DSF interfaces with academia to promote the skills the UK DIB requires from future graduates.
For Defence civilians, many individual professions and functions have their own schemes, with key examples including the Future STEM scheme for Defence Science and Technology Laboratory which involves a structured sequence of placements with different partners in industry and academia; the DSUS Scheme, which is supporting students and encourage them to pursue careers in Defence, addressing recruitment for the National Cyber Force; the Defence Nuclear Enterprise Early Careers Operating Model, which will promote early career opportunities in Defence through strategic academic partnerships following planned implementation from April 2024; and participation in both the Civil Service Fast Stream (https://www.faststream.gov.uk/index.html) and its Summer Internship Programme: (https://www.faststream.gov.uk/summer-internship-programme/index.html).
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3734 on Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes, what steps he is taking to evaluate the effectiveness of the (a) Rise and (b) Elevate schemes.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Both the Rise and Elevate schemes are in their pilot years and monitoring is primarily through qualitative assessment. Interviews, feedback sessions and surveys are conducted with participants, their managers and alumni and are combined with existing promotion information. This data is used by team members experienced in running development programmes to monitor progress, ensure consistent quality and make scheme improvements.
The effectiveness of the programmes will be evaluated using the time taken to gain promotion relative to peers not on the schemes. So far multiple Rise alumni have been promoted and of those some have been promoted two grades. Since starting the pilot Elevate scheme (ongoing until June 2024) six participants have been promoted to Grade 7. We consider this data provides a strong and positive early sign that the scheme is achieving its goals.
The Ministry of Defence is able to comprehensively track the careers of scheme alumni. Over the next few years this will enable the accurate measurement of the effectiveness of both the Rise and Elevate schemes.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3734 on Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes, what steps he is taking to ensure that the (a) Rise and (b) Elevate schemes attract a diverse range of talent.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Rise and Elevate Schemes have been advertised together widely across the department to heighten awareness and attract as much of the Ministry of Defence’s diverse range of talent as possible. Multiple channels were used, including; department-wide MODNet intranet articles; engagement workshops; local communications from Top Level Budget business area talent leads; engagement with staff networks, including the growing Women’s and Race Networks; and information sessions as part of National Inclusion and Learning at Work weeks.
Selection utilised fair, open and merit-based recruitment principles. Best practice for attracting diverse talent included anonymised applications and providing requested reasonable adjustments.
To attract colleagues from some minority groups and support them once they have joined, the Rise and Elevate schemes offer additional coaching before, during and after participation. The Rise and Elevate schemes are part of a much broader talent offer (including other schemes such as Step Up and Step Across and a pilot programme Aspire) that supports the development of diverse talent and provides under-represented groups with the tools to progress into more senior grades. We also actively take part in the wider government talent schemes detailed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-talent-management/civil-service-talent-management
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3734 on Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes, how many and what proportion of people who participated in the (a) Rise and (b) Elevate schemes have since left his Department.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The number and proportion of women who participated in Rise and Elevate schemes since their launch in 2021 are as follows:
Rise
In 2021, 15 women (approximately 65% of scheme participants) took part in the first cohort of the Rise scheme. One subsequently left the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
In 2022, 35 women (approximately 73% of scheme participants) took part in the second cohort of the Rise scheme. One subsequently left the MOD.
Elevate
The Elevate scheme lasts for two years so the same cohort participated in both 2021 and 2022. 13 women (approximately 43% of scheme participants) took part and none have left the MOD.
Of those participating in Rise and Elevate during 2021 and 2022, five have left the MOD: three from Rise and two from Elevate out of 101 total participants. This is approximately 5%.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3734 on Ministry of Defence: Employment Schemes, how many women in his Department participated in both the Rise and Elevate schemes in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The number and proportion of women who participated in Rise and Elevate schemes since their launch in 2021 are as follows:
Rise
In 2021, 15 women (approximately 65% of scheme participants) took part in the first cohort of the Rise scheme. One subsequently left the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
In 2022, 35 women (approximately 73% of scheme participants) took part in the second cohort of the Rise scheme. One subsequently left the MOD.
Elevate
The Elevate scheme lasts for two years so the same cohort participated in both 2021 and 2022. 13 women (approximately 43% of scheme participants) took part and none have left the MOD.
Of those participating in Rise and Elevate during 2021 and 2022, five have left the MOD: three from Rise and two from Elevate out of 101 total participants. This is approximately 5%.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support young people from low social-economic backgrounds into employment.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work, and thrive in the labour market whoever they are and wherever they live.
The Department of Work and Pensions Youth Offer provides individually tailored Work Coach support to young people aged 16 to 24 who are claiming Universal Credit. This support includes the Youth Employment Programme, Youth Employability Coaches for young people with additional barriers to finding work, and Youth Hubs across Great Britain.
DWP is a strong champion for social mobility. We have established the Social Mobility Pledge Consortium in partnership with TalkTalk. The pledge asks businesses to make measurable commitments to diversify the backgrounds of their workforce and help vulnerable people in to work. Nearly 120 employer signatories have made the pledge over the last year.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support youth employment schemes such as UK Year of Service.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK Year of Service is one of several youth employment schemes announced and part funded by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS). We have been working with DCMS and the National Citizen Service Trust to ensure the scheme achieves the best outcomes for the young people it will support. This includes exploring opportunities to join-up and build on the Department for Work and Pensions’ positive relationship with employers, and by sharing knowledge and evidence related to supporting young people in to work.