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1138931

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept id	201
	answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
	hansard heading	Biofuels: Plastics
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to (a) support the growth and (b) minimise the adverse environmental effects of the bioplastics industry.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277119
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>This Government is building a globally competitive sustainable plastics industry through research and innovation. As announced in the recent Bioeconomy Strategy, the Department will provide up to £60 million, bolstered by considerable industry support, to establish the UK as the world’s leading innovator in smart sustainable plastic packaging. We will soon be launching a call for evidence on the impacts of bio-based and biodegradable plastics on the environment and their interaction with the circular economy.</p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 18/07/2019 10:35:40 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140635

	registered interest
	date	19/07/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Defence
	answering dept id	11
	answering dept short name	Defence
	answering dept sort name	Defence
	hansard heading	Autonomous Weapons
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	279386
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2019 answer text <p>The United Kingdom does not support a ban on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems .The UK considers its extant legal and regulatory framework for the development, assurance and deployment of military systems to be sufficient to ensure that the capabilities we field will always meet our obligations under international law.</p> answering member constituency Milton Keynes North answering member printed Mark Lancaster question first answered 24/07/2019 09:52:38 answering member 1544 label Biography information for Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1138938

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept id	10
	answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
	hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reduce the number of (a) bogus and (b) nuisance phone calls.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277121
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>We have introduced a range of measures in recent months to reduce the number of nuisance calls. These include making company directors personally liable for any breach of the rules by their company and banning unwanted calls from claims management companies and pensions providers in the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018. We are also funding the National Trading Standards Scams Team to provide telephone call blocking technology to vulnerable people, as announced during the Chancellor's budget last year. We recognise there are a minority of companies that continue to flout the law and we will work closely with regulators, industry and consumer groups to identify further ways of addressing the issue.</p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 18/07/2019 10:25:29 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1138939

	registered interest
	date	15/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Degrees
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that school leavers are informed of degree apprenticeships.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277122
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/07/2019 answer text <p>We are pleased that Universities UK has recognised degree apprenticeships as a ‘growing success story’. Degree apprenticeships give employers the opportunity to work with universities to develop the higher-level skills they need, and apprentices the opportunity to gain a degree while they earn. Alongside our work to raise awareness of these benefits, we are also making it easier to find and apply for vacancies with employers of all sizes.</p><p>Current vacancies can be found on the ‘Find an apprenticeship’ website, the UCAS ‘Careers finder’ site, and employers’ own websites. We encourage employers to promote their future vacancies up to a year in advance in our Higher and Degree Listing, which is published at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships</a>. We are aiming to publish our next listing, for vacancies commencing in September 2020, in September 2019 and this will be distributed to schools and handed out at events.</p><p>The Degree Apprenticeships Development Fund has supported initiatives including UCAS careers fairs, materials on apprenticeships for schools, and apprenticeship ambassadors. In the 2018/19 academic year, we attended 30 UCAS Higher Education Exhibitions across England, directly engaging with an estimated 8,500 young people, and worked with UCAS to contact over a quarter of a million more young people by email to raise awareness of apprenticeships</p><p>We also provide a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge project, to make sure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. This has enabled over three quarters of a million young people to hear about apprenticeships since the project’s launch in 2016.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 18/07/2019 13:21:53 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1139288

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Information Technology: Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of compulsory teaching of information technology until the age of 16.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277670
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>In September 2014, the Government introduced computing as a national curriculum subject at all four key stages, replacing the former information and communications technology curriculum. Computing education is now compulsory in all state maintained schools. As part of the new Ofsted inspection framework, operational from September 2019, inspectors will expect all pupils to study a broad and balanced curriculum, either through the National Curriculum, which includes computing, or a curriculum of comparable breadth.</p><p>The computing curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils have experience of writing computer programs. The UK is one of the first G20 countries to have introduced coding into the primary curriculum. The computing curriculum also ensures that pupils can become digitally literate.</p><p>In November 2018, the Government announced the new National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), led by leading industry experts and backed by £84 million of funding. The NCCE recently appointed the first 23 Computing Hubs, operational from autumn 2019, which will provide a range of continuing professional development opportunities for all teachers, and will build local expertise and capacity for school to school support.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 277671 question first answered 22/07/2019 16:04:57 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1139289

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Software: Primary Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of teaching coding in primary schools.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277671
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>In September 2014, the Government introduced computing as a national curriculum subject at all four key stages, replacing the former information and communications technology curriculum. Computing education is now compulsory in all state maintained schools. As part of the new Ofsted inspection framework, operational from September 2019, inspectors will expect all pupils to study a broad and balanced curriculum, either through the National Curriculum, which includes computing, or a curriculum of comparable breadth.</p><p>The computing curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils have experience of writing computer programs. The UK is one of the first G20 countries to have introduced coding into the primary curriculum. The computing curriculum also ensures that pupils can become digitally literate.</p><p>In November 2018, the Government announced the new National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), led by leading industry experts and backed by £84 million of funding. The NCCE recently appointed the first 23 Computing Hubs, operational from autumn 2019, which will provide a range of continuing professional development opportunities for all teachers, and will build local expertise and capacity for school to school support.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 277670 question first answered 22/07/2019 16:04:57 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1139290

	registered interest
	date	16/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Young People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to reintroduce young apprenticeships.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	277672
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>There are currently no plans to reintroduce the Young Apprenticeships programme.</p><p>However, high-quality apprenticeships are available to people of all ages. Our reforms are improving apprenticeships by making them longer with more off-the job training and formal assessment at the end.</p><p>An apprenticeship provides the foundation for a successful career and is a great option for young people who are strong academically but want on-the-job experience and a high-quality alternative to full-time university study.</p><p>Traineeships are available to provide quality training to those young people who need to develop their skills and experience in order to enter the labour market. The department’s recent Traineeship Impact Evaluation Report shows that 75% of trainees are in apprenticeships, other jobs, or further learning a year after their traineeship.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 22/07/2019 16:56:53 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1139817

	registered interest
	date	17/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Taxation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to (a) increase transparency of the amount of apprenticeship levy spent on different types of apprenticeship and (b) help ensure the availability of data on the socioeconomic background of apprentices by apprenticeship level.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	278402
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/07/2019 answer text <p>Our quarterly ‘Apprenticeships and Traineeships’ and monthly ‘Apprenticeships and Levy Statistics’ data releases provide extensive information on the breakdown of apprenticeship starts by level, sector subject area and framework/standard. This is in addition to whether starts are supported by the apprenticeship levy. The most recent quarterly release was published on 11 July 2019 and can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-july-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-july-2019</a>. This data, in addition to our extensive engagement with employers and sector bodies, informs our picture of emerging demand across the employer-led apprenticeships programme.</p><p> </p><p>We use the ‘Further education: indices of multiple deprivation’ data release to understand the background of apprentices and inform our widening participation policies. This data is broken down by apprenticeship level and benchmarked against data for participation in all further education and skills training. We know that apprentices disproportionately come from more disadvantaged areas: in 2017/18, 24% of participating apprentices came from the most disadvantaged fifth of areas, compared to 15.6% from the least disadvantaged fifth. This data is available at: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765589/Index_of_Multiple_Deprivation_201516_to_201718.xlsx" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765589/Index_of_Multiple_Deprivation_201516_to_201718.xlsx</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 22/07/2019 16:02:43 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140357

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Higher Education: Admissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring universities in England to use contextual admissions tools to widen participation in higher education.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	278922
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>Widening access and participation in higher education is a priority for this government. This means that everyone with the capability to succeed in higher education should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background or where they grew up.</p><p>We have made real progress in ensuring universities are open to all, with record rates of disadvantaged 18 year olds in higher education. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to ensure that background isn’t a barrier to realising potential in higher education.</p><p>Many higher education providers are already using contextual admissions, to support widening access, and the government supports this.</p><p>It’s important that higher education providers use good quality and meaningful data to identify disadvantage and under-representation. We encourage institutions to use a range of measures to identify disadvantage and under-representation, including individual-level indicators, area data (such as POLAR, Index of Multiple Deprivation or ACORN), school data, intersectional data such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's (UCAS) Multiple Equality Measure and participation in outreach activities. The department is continuing to work with the Office for Students, UCAS and sector representatives to further explore how we can support universities to improve and enhance access to data.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 23/07/2019 07:33:37 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1140360

	registered interest
	date	18/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Admissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to widen access to the highest performing schools in England and Wales.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	278923
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2019 answer text <p>86% of schools in England are good or outstanding.</p><p>The Department has committed £7 billion to create new school places between 2015 and 2021, the vast majority of which are being created in the best existing schools or through good new schools. The Department is on track to create 1 million places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity in at least two generations.</p><p>Of the mainstream free schools approved between 2014 and 2017, 86% have been in areas where there was a need for more school places. 84% of free schools with inspection reports published by the end of May are rated good or outstanding.</p><p> </p><p>98% of grammar schools are also good or outstanding and the Department wants more disadvantaged pupils to be able to access a place at them. That is why it has made £100 million available through the Selective Schools Expansion Fund to create additional places, where needed, in selective schools that commit to a plan to improve access for disadvantaged children. In 2018 the Department announced 16 selective schools to be funded to expand, and it launched a second bidding round in 2019.</p><p>Education is a devolved matter and it is for the Welsh national assembly to decide on education in Wales.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 23/07/2019 15:45:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly