Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase childcare provision in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency and (b) Suffolk.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is providing over £4.1 billion by 2027/28 to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week, or 38 weeks per year, for working parents with children aged 9 months to 3 years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. Already, over 200,000 two year olds are now confirmed to have places for 15 hours a week of free childcare, as part of the largest ever expansion of childcare in England, and the rates for the new entitlements have been independently confirmed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) to be above market rates. The take up nationwide for the validation codes already stands at 87.8%.
Funding will be key to delivering the existing and expanded childcare entitlements, so the department has substantially uplifted the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers. In 2024/25 alone, the department expects to provide over £1.7 billion to support local authorities and providers deliver the expansion to the early years entitlements, on top of over £400 million additional funding to deliver a significant uplift to the hourly rate paid to local authorities for the entitlements. Furthermore, to ensure local authorities are fully supported in delivering the new entitlements, the department is funding local authorities an additional four weeks in 2024/25, at an estimated cost of £120 million, for the under 2s working parent entitlement starting in September 2024.
The department’s methodology and the uplift to the rates are informed by data it receives from providers and parents to ensure the department is meeting the pressures faced by the sector. The department regularly surveys a nationally representative sample of over 9,000 providers to gain insights into how they run their provision and the challenges they face. The department also regularly surveys over 6,000 parents to understand their usage of childcare.
For 2024/25, the department’s hourly funding rates for Suffolk are £10.52 for under 2s, £7.74 for 2 year olds and £5.50 for 3 to 4 year olds.
To support the workforce, on 2 February 2024, the department launched ‘Do something Big, work with small children’, which is a new national recruitment campaign to support the recruitment and retention of talented staff to support the expansion of the 30 hours offer. This campaign will raise the profile of the sector, support the recruitment of talented staff and recognise the lifelong impact those working in early years and childcare have on children and their families.
The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the 30 hours offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity. The department will continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s ‘Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey’ shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract. Suffolk has not reported any sufficiency challenges.
The department will continue to work closely with the sector on the implementation of these reforms as it delivers this substantial expansion.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the current arrangements for the assessment of literacy and numeracy competence at the first stage of recruitment into any branch of the armed forces; what provision exists for adult education for (1) literacy, (2) numeracy, and (3) broader educational purposes, after the first two stages of the recruitment process; and what specialist and current expertise exists to assist senior officers in their responsibility to deliver professional and educational support.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Armed Forces conduct a range of eligibility checks and assessments within recruitment pipelines, and these include the requirement for candidates to have minimum educational qualifications for entry into the Armed Forces. The single Services set their own minimum educational entry standards, and these are specific to the individual requirements of employment groups. Minimum educational qualifications for entry are regularly reviewed and amended to reflect the most up to date requirements of employment groups.
Following initial training, 95% of enlisted personnel are enrolled onto apprenticeships, which require Functional Skills standards. We support all Service personnel up to Level 2 Functional Skills English and Maths and provide further additional support for those with Specific Learning Differences. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) also promotes lifelong learning among members of the Armed Forces, using the Elective Education Schemes to gain higher level qualifications. MOD, and each of the Armed Forces, have specialist education and training policy teams to assist senior officers.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase investment in skills training to meet the needs of more 150,000 additional students seeking higher education by 2030 in England.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
It is important that the department has a sustainable higher education (HE) funding system that responds to the needs of the economy and that is fair to students and to taxpayers. The government keeps the HE funding system under continuous review to ensure that this remains the case, and to provide many different opportunities for learners to acquire vital skills.
The government is committed to creating a world-leading skills system, backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this Parliament to strengthen HE and further education (FE). This includes increasing opportunities for people to develop higher technical skills through T Levels, Apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, or Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). From 2025, the Lifelong Learning Entitlement will transform access to FE and HE, offering all adults the equivalent of four years’ worth of student loans to use flexibly on quality education training over their lifetime.
Through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG), the department is investing hundreds of millions of pounds in additional funding over the three-year period to the 2024/25 financial year to support high-quality teaching and facilities, the majority of which goes to supporting the provision of courses in high-cost subjects including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade. The recurrent SPG budget is £1,456 million for the 2024/25 financial year. This includes an £18 million increase in support for strategically important high-cost subjects.
The department is also providing £40 million over two years through the SPG to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision. The department has seen year-on-year growth in degree level apprenticeships (Level 6 and 7) with almost 230,000 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic year. The government has increased investment in the apprenticeships system in England to over £2.7 billion this financial year, to support employers of all sizes access high-quality apprenticeships at all levels.
The department’s Higher Technical Education reforms are growing skills at Level 4 and 5. The department has introduced new HTQs, which will increase the prestige and uptake of level 4 and 5 qualifications. To date, 172 qualifications have been approved as HTQs across seven occupational routes and are being taught at FE Colleges, Institutes of Technology, Universities, and Independent Training Providers. The department has provided up to £115 million in funding to providers to help grow provision across the country, on top of up to £300 million to create a network of 21 Institutes of Technology.
Asked by: Tobias Ellwood (Conservative - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase childcare provision in (a) Bournemouth East constituency and (b) the South West.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents.
In the government’s 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping families with pre-school children with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever and is set to save working families using the full 30 funded hours up to £6,500 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September 2025.
Funding will be key to delivering the existing and expanded childcare entitlements. The department has substantially uplifted the hourly rate paid to local authorities to increase hourly rates paid to childcare providers. In the 2024/25 financial year, the department is investing over £400 million additional funding to deliver a significant uplift to hourly rates, building on the £204 million of additional funding paid in September.
To support the sector further to deliver the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate that providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used in the Spring Budget 2023. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an additional £500 million of investment over financial years 2025/26 and 2026/27.
Alongside increasing funding rates, the government is allocating £100 million in capital funding to local authorities in the 2023/24 financial year to support the expansion of childcare places for eligible working parents and to increase the supply of wraparound care in primary schools. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.
Following the department’s consultation on changes to the early years foundation stage framework, the department has introduced flexibilities that aim to make things easier for providers, as well as continuing to explore how the department can support the sector to deliver the additional places that will be required.
The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the 30 hours offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity. On 2 February 2024, the department launched ‘Do something big, Work with small children’, a new national recruitment campaign to support the recruitment and retention of talented staff to support the expansion of the 30 hours offer. This campaign will raise the profile of the sector, support the recruitment of talented staff, and recognise the lifelong impact those working in early years and childcare have on children and their families.
The department is also continuing to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s childcare and early years provider survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.
Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, supports the local authority with any specific requirements through the department’s childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the availability of high-quality childcare.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is delivering the largest expansion of childcare in England’s history. Latest projections show that more than 150,000 children will benefit by early April. The department expects that number to grow in the coming months and years. The department continues to support the sector’s expansion with £400 million additional funding to uplift hourly rates next year and a guarantee that rates will increase in line with cost pressures for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years.
By the financial year 2027/28, this government expects to be spending more than £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping families with pre-school children with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
Alongside increasing funding rates, government is allocating £100 million in capital funding to local authorities in financial year 2023/24 to support the expansion of childcare places for eligible working parents and to increase the supply of wraparound care in primary schools. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.
The department is also taking steps to support the early years workforce. Following the consultation on changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, the department has introduced flexibilities that aim to make things easier for providers, as well as continuing to explore how to support the sector to deliver the additional places that will be required.
On 2 February 2024, the department launched ‘Do something Big, Work with small children’ a new national recruitment campaign to support the recruitment and retention of talented staff to support the expansion of the 30 hours offer. This campaign will raise the profile of the sector, support the recruitment of talented staff, and recognise the lifelong impact those working in early years and childcare have on children and their families. The department is also providing £1,000 to eligible joiners and returners to the workforce as part of a financial incentives pilot and are supporting childminders through a £7.2 million start-up grant scheme, open to all new childminders who registered on or after 15 March 2023.
The department is ensuring a phased implementation of the expansion to the 30 hours offer to allow the market to develop the necessary capacity. The department will continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce have increased since 2022.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department and the local authority discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
The department continues to work closely with the sector on the implementation of these reforms as it delivers this substantial expansion.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to raise awareness of inherited cardiac conditions among GPs.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are not aware of plans to introduce a national leadership role for inherited cardiac conditions. However, NHS England, through the National Genomics Education Team, also deliver and advise on learning and development opportunities that prepare current and future National Health Service professionals to make the best use of genomics in their practice.
Furthermore, the National Genomic Test Directory sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested, the method that should be used, and the healthcare professional that can request the test, including when a general practice can request testing.
This includes the development of resources to support the workforce across the entire care continuum, for example, in the case of familial hypercholesterolaemia this would include the whole multi-professional team, inclusive of primary care. Furthermore, the Genomic Training
Academy will begin offering education and training through virtual and in person learning for the specialist genomics workforce, including laboratory and clinical staff.
NHS Clinical Genomic Services deliver a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment and lifelong clinical management of patients of all ages including families who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic or genomic condition. The Department does not have any direct plans to introduce self-referral forms for family members of people with genetic cardiac conditions.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to introduce self-referral forms for family members of people with genetic cardiac conditions.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are not aware of plans to introduce a national leadership role for inherited cardiac conditions. However, NHS England, through the National Genomics Education Team, also deliver and advise on learning and development opportunities that prepare current and future National Health Service professionals to make the best use of genomics in their practice.
Furthermore, the National Genomic Test Directory sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested, the method that should be used, and the healthcare professional that can request the test, including when a general practice can request testing.
This includes the development of resources to support the workforce across the entire care continuum, for example, in the case of familial hypercholesterolaemia this would include the whole multi-professional team, inclusive of primary care. Furthermore, the Genomic Training
Academy will begin offering education and training through virtual and in person learning for the specialist genomics workforce, including laboratory and clinical staff.
NHS Clinical Genomic Services deliver a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment and lifelong clinical management of patients of all ages including families who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic or genomic condition. The Department does not have any direct plans to introduce self-referral forms for family members of people with genetic cardiac conditions.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to introduce a national leadership role for inherited cardiac conditions.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are not aware of plans to introduce a national leadership role for inherited cardiac conditions. However, NHS England, through the National Genomics Education Team, also deliver and advise on learning and development opportunities that prepare current and future National Health Service professionals to make the best use of genomics in their practice.
Furthermore, the National Genomic Test Directory sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested, the method that should be used, and the healthcare professional that can request the test, including when a general practice can request testing.
This includes the development of resources to support the workforce across the entire care continuum, for example, in the case of familial hypercholesterolaemia this would include the whole multi-professional team, inclusive of primary care. Furthermore, the Genomic Training
Academy will begin offering education and training through virtual and in person learning for the specialist genomics workforce, including laboratory and clinical staff.
NHS Clinical Genomic Services deliver a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment and lifelong clinical management of patients of all ages including families who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic or genomic condition. The Department does not have any direct plans to introduce self-referral forms for family members of people with genetic cardiac conditions.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on developing tech skills in the workforce.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent and skills are a vital strand of the government’s UK Science and Technology Framework, published in 2023, which aims to cement the UK’s status as a science and technology superpower by 2030.
The department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, including through government-industry groups such as the Digital Skills Council. This brings together government and industry to address current and future demand for digital skills, including promoting routes into digital careers and the range of opportunities to re-skill and up-skill.
The department is making it easier for people of all ages and backgrounds to access the STEM training they need through the ladder of opportunity provided by our skills system reforms, including:
There are over 350 high-quality, employer-designed STEM apprenticeships and from 2024 students will be able to apply for apprenticeships on the UCAS website. The number of digital, ICT practitioner apprenticeship starts have increased year-on-year since 2019/20, with 24,140 starts in the 2022/23 year (over 40% increase compared to starts in the 2019/20 year).
Over 1,000 Skills Bootcamps are available across the country, offering training in tech subjects such as software development, cyber security and data analytics.
The introduction of a Lifelong Learning Entitlement will transform access to FE and HE, offering all adults the equivalent of four years’ worth of student loans to use flexibly on quality education and skills training over their lifetime.
These programmes are achieving the vision set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework to boost the supply of tech skills.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Sport England’s latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey, published in December 2023, which estimated that around 47 percent of children and young people were meeting the Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines of taking part in sport and physical activity for an average of 60 minutes or more every day, and what steps they are taking to prioritise physical education in the national curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government wants all pupils to be healthy and active. A positive experience of sport and physical activity at a young age can create a lifelong habit of participation.
Physical education (PE) is a foundation subject at all four key stages, and it is a vital part of a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils to access. The PE national curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time, and lead healthy and active lives.
The government published the School Sport and Activity Action Plan update in July 2023. The action plan is attached. This sets out the next steps and provides further detail for school leaders and teachers on how the government will support them to improve the quality of PE and school sport, and to deliver two hours of PE a week. This will help all pupils to engage in physical activity and meet the Chief Medical Officers’ recommendations of 60 active minutes a day.
The government’s Get Active strategy, published in August 2023, also provides a blueprint for a system wide approach to support schools in getting one million more children to meet the Chief Medical Officers’ daily recommended amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
The department will publish non-statutory guidance for schools this spring, which will illustrate the practical steps taken by schools to provide two hours of PE, as well as ensuring equal access for girls and boys.