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759675

registered interest
date	12/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Higher Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new providers she expects to enter the higher education market as a result of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	10298
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2017 answer text <p>The published Impact Assessment for the Higher Education and Research Bill (<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528005/bis-16-295-he-research-bill-detailed-impact-assessment.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528005/bis-16-295-he-research-bill-detailed-impact-assessment.pdf</a>) shows the forecast impact of the reforms on the number of providers in the sector. These figures are of course estimates but we would expect around 600 providers, including both existing and new providers, to be entered in the register in the first year of the Office for Students’ operation of the register, rising to some 800 within ten years.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 09/10/2017 07:50:27 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

758145

registered interest
date	06/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adult Education: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she and her officials had with learndirect Ltd on the withdrawal of its submitted bid for the Adult Education budget procurement for 2017-18.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	9273
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2017 answer text <p>Education and Skills Funding Agency officials have had regular discussions with Learndirect over the last year on a wide range of financial, contractual and quality issues. The Department’s priority is to protect learners and users of other services run by Learndirect.</p><p> </p><p>Once Learndirect made the decision to withdraw from the Adult Education Budget (AEB) procurement, they were informed that they would be treated in the same way as other providers who have not been awarded a contract as a result of the AEB procurement. This includes a clear contractual end date for provision, which is 31 July 2018.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 11/09/2017 12:20:08 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

758152

registered interest
date	06/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Students: Loans
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Student Loans Company on graduate student loan overpayments.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	9298
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2017 answer text <p>The Department for Education works closely with HM Revenue and Customs and the Student Loans Company (SLC) on all aspects of the operation of the student loan repayment system, including the issue of over-repayments made at the end of a borrower’s loan term.</p><p> </p><p>There is already a scheme in place to help prevent borrowers over-repaying at the end of their loan terms. SLC tells borrowers up to two years before they are due to finish repaying their loans that they may complete their loan repayments by direct debit, rather than through the tax system. Borrowers who take up the option to repay by direct debit do not over-repay their loans.</p><p> </p><p>Any borrower who has over-repaid after repaying their loan balance in full can contact SLC to have the money refunded to them.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 11/09/2017 16:36:05 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

758153

registered interest
date	06/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education: Public Appointments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects to appoint a permanent chief executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	9299
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2017 answer text <p>The Institute for Apprenticeships is responsible for appointing its Chief Executive in consultation with the Secretary of State for Education, and the Institute remains committed to filling the post as soon as possible.</p><p>Peter Lauener is the first Chief Executive for the Institute and an experienced senior leadership team supports him. Mr Lauener will remain in post until the new Chief Executive is appointed to ensure continuity of leadership.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 11/09/2017 12:17:31 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

758154

registered interest
date	06/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Overseas Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the removal of international students from net migration statistics.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	9300
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2017 answer text <p>My officials and I regularly engage with the Home Office on international students.</p><p> </p><p>EU and international students make a great contribution to the UK and our world-class HE sector both economically and culturally, contributing an estimated £11.1bn to the UK economy in 2014.</p><p> </p><p>There’s no limit on the number of genuine international students who can study here and we have no plans to limit any institution’s ability to recruit them.</p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 11/09/2017 16:32:24 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

758155

registered interest
date	06/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Student Wastage
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the recent report by the Social Market Foundation, On course for success? student retention at university, if she will make an assessment of the finding that black students are 50 per cent more likely to drop out of university than white students.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	9301
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/09/2017 answer text <p>This Government is committed to widening participation to higher education for students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups.</p><p>Application rates to higher education by disadvantaged 18-year-olds in England are at record levels and retention rates for Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME) students are higher than they were in 2010. Gaps in retention between black and white students have also narrowed. According to Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) published statistics[1], black entrants in 2009/10 were 1.7 times more likely that white entrants to leave before their second year. For entrants in 2014/15 this gap has fallen to 1.5.</p><p> </p><p>But we recognise that there is a difference in attainment and retention for BME students which is why this Government has put in place actions to make further progress. Retention rates is a core metric of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The TEF explicitly assesses providers on how well they are delivering positive outcomes for students from disadvantaged and BME groups and this is reflected in the rating that providers receive.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 requires institutions to publish admissions and retention data by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background. This greater transparency will shine a spotlight on those higher education institutions that need to go further and faster to widening participation in higher education.</p><p> </p><p>The new regulatory framework for higher education and the Office for Students (OfS) will put students at the heart of the OfS’ remit. The OfS will have a statutory duty to promote equality of opportunity in the access and then success of disadvantaged and BME groups. This includes non-continuation and attainment levels of students from those backgrounds.</p><p> </p><ul><li><p> </p></li></ul><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/analysis/ncr/" target="_blank">http://www.hefce.ac.uk/analysis/ncr/</a> ‘Non-continuation rates: trends and profiles’.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Orpington answering member printed Joseph Johnson question first answered 11/09/2017 16:30:27 answering member 4039 label Biography information for Lord Johnson of Marylebone
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

756753

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Learndirect
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to learndirect Ltd from the Adult Education budget between 1 November 2017 and 31 July 2018.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	8411
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>Learndirect is a large provider of adult education and training under contract to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). It also provides services to other government departments, including the professional skills test for prospective teachers for the Department for Education, the ‘Life in the UK’ citizenship test for the Home Office and the work programme for the Department for Work and Pensions. In all it delivers training for around 80,000 people a year, and tests for more than 150,000 people. Our priority is to protect those learners and avoid disruption to testing services.</p><p> </p><p>In order to protect provision for learners and ensure an orderly rundown of contracts, all existing Adult Education Budget (AEB) contract holders who did not participate in the recent procurement or who were unsuccessful have been offered a contract extension for the period 1 November 2017 to 31 July 2018. The extensions are equivalent to 49% of their 2016/17 allocation. Learndirect Ltd originally submitted a bid for this procurement but withdrew it before its conclusion, so were offered an extension on this basis, which equates to £29.19m. All providers offered this extension are not able to secure any further extension after July 2018.</p><p>We have agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract for adult education in order to protect the large number of learners and avoid disruption to other government services delivered by this provider. This decision also reflects the fact that Learndirect’s adult education provision, and their leadership and management, was graded 3 by Ofsted at the recent inspection. Learndirect’s provision will be subject to regular monitoring arrangements during the rundown, and if we have any concerns about the quality of delivery we will take action. If we had not agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract in this way the large number of learners currently on courses and other government services could have been at risk. The ESFA will closely monitor Learndirect’s performance during the extended contract and will take action if there are any concerns.</p><p> </p><p>AEB funding levels for 2017/18 for individual contract-based providers were determined either by the outcome of the procurement, or the standard methodology that applies to run down contracts that is set out above. There were separate arrangements in place for allocating funding to grant-based providers, which includes most colleges.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure continuity of provision for learners, all existing AEB contract holders, including Learndirect Ltd, were issued with a three-month contract extension for the period 1 August to 31 October 2017 to bridge the period between the end of the previous funding year and the commencement of the period after the procurement. All providers were offered the same percentage (26%) of their 2016/17 allocation. For Learndirect Ltd this equates to £15.96m.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 8409 8410 8412 question first answered 07/09/2017 16:02:19 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

756754

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Learndirect
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons learndirect Ltd is being permitted to recruit additional adult education learners in the light of its Grade 4 assessment by Ofsted.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	8412
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>Learndirect is a large provider of adult education and training under contract to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). It also provides services to other government departments, including the professional skills test for prospective teachers for the Department for Education, the ‘Life in the UK’ citizenship test for the Home Office and the work programme for the Department for Work and Pensions. In all it delivers training for around 80,000 people a year, and tests for more than 150,000 people. Our priority is to protect those learners and avoid disruption to testing services.</p><p> </p><p>In order to protect provision for learners and ensure an orderly rundown of contracts, all existing Adult Education Budget (AEB) contract holders who did not participate in the recent procurement or who were unsuccessful have been offered a contract extension for the period 1 November 2017 to 31 July 2018. The extensions are equivalent to 49% of their 2016/17 allocation. Learndirect Ltd originally submitted a bid for this procurement but withdrew it before its conclusion, so were offered an extension on this basis, which equates to £29.19m. All providers offered this extension are not able to secure any further extension after July 2018.</p><p>We have agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract for adult education in order to protect the large number of learners and avoid disruption to other government services delivered by this provider. This decision also reflects the fact that Learndirect’s adult education provision, and their leadership and management, was graded 3 by Ofsted at the recent inspection. Learndirect’s provision will be subject to regular monitoring arrangements during the rundown, and if we have any concerns about the quality of delivery we will take action. If we had not agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract in this way the large number of learners currently on courses and other government services could have been at risk. The ESFA will closely monitor Learndirect’s performance during the extended contract and will take action if there are any concerns.</p><p> </p><p>AEB funding levels for 2017/18 for individual contract-based providers were determined either by the outcome of the procurement, or the standard methodology that applies to run down contracts that is set out above. There were separate arrangements in place for allocating funding to grant-based providers, which includes most colleges.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure continuity of provision for learners, all existing AEB contract holders, including Learndirect Ltd, were issued with a three-month contract extension for the period 1 August to 31 October 2017 to bridge the period between the end of the previous funding year and the commencement of the period after the procurement. All providers were offered the same percentage (26%) of their 2016/17 allocation. For Learndirect Ltd this equates to £15.96m.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 8409 8410 8411 question first answered 07/09/2017 16:02:19 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

756755

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Learndirect
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding from the Adult Education budget was requested by learndirect Ltd for 2017-18.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	8409
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>Learndirect is a large provider of adult education and training under contract to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). It also provides services to other government departments, including the professional skills test for prospective teachers for the Department for Education, the ‘Life in the UK’ citizenship test for the Home Office and the work programme for the Department for Work and Pensions. In all it delivers training for around 80,000 people a year, and tests for more than 150,000 people. Our priority is to protect those learners and avoid disruption to testing services.</p><p> </p><p>In order to protect provision for learners and ensure an orderly rundown of contracts, all existing Adult Education Budget (AEB) contract holders who did not participate in the recent procurement or who were unsuccessful have been offered a contract extension for the period 1 November 2017 to 31 July 2018. The extensions are equivalent to 49% of their 2016/17 allocation. Learndirect Ltd originally submitted a bid for this procurement but withdrew it before its conclusion, so were offered an extension on this basis, which equates to £29.19m. All providers offered this extension are not able to secure any further extension after July 2018.</p><p>We have agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract for adult education in order to protect the large number of learners and avoid disruption to other government services delivered by this provider. This decision also reflects the fact that Learndirect’s adult education provision, and their leadership and management, was graded 3 by Ofsted at the recent inspection. Learndirect’s provision will be subject to regular monitoring arrangements during the rundown, and if we have any concerns about the quality of delivery we will take action. If we had not agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract in this way the large number of learners currently on courses and other government services could have been at risk. The ESFA will closely monitor Learndirect’s performance during the extended contract and will take action if there are any concerns.</p><p> </p><p>AEB funding levels for 2017/18 for individual contract-based providers were determined either by the outcome of the procurement, or the standard methodology that applies to run down contracts that is set out above. There were separate arrangements in place for allocating funding to grant-based providers, which includes most colleges.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure continuity of provision for learners, all existing AEB contract holders, including Learndirect Ltd, were issued with a three-month contract extension for the period 1 August to 31 October 2017 to bridge the period between the end of the previous funding year and the commencement of the period after the procurement. All providers were offered the same percentage (26%) of their 2016/17 allocation. For Learndirect Ltd this equates to £15.96m.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 8410 8411 8412 question first answered 07/09/2017 16:02:19 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

756756

registered interest
date	04/09/2017
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Learndirect
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department allocated to learndirect Ltd from the Adult Education budget between 1 August and 31 October 2017.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	8410
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/09/2017 answer text <p>Learndirect is a large provider of adult education and training under contract to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). It also provides services to other government departments, including the professional skills test for prospective teachers for the Department for Education, the ‘Life in the UK’ citizenship test for the Home Office and the work programme for the Department for Work and Pensions. In all it delivers training for around 80,000 people a year, and tests for more than 150,000 people. Our priority is to protect those learners and avoid disruption to testing services.</p><p> </p><p>In order to protect provision for learners and ensure an orderly rundown of contracts, all existing Adult Education Budget (AEB) contract holders who did not participate in the recent procurement or who were unsuccessful have been offered a contract extension for the period 1 November 2017 to 31 July 2018. The extensions are equivalent to 49% of their 2016/17 allocation. Learndirect Ltd originally submitted a bid for this procurement but withdrew it before its conclusion, so were offered an extension on this basis, which equates to £29.19m. All providers offered this extension are not able to secure any further extension after July 2018.</p><p>We have agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract for adult education in order to protect the large number of learners and avoid disruption to other government services delivered by this provider. This decision also reflects the fact that Learndirect’s adult education provision, and their leadership and management, was graded 3 by Ofsted at the recent inspection. Learndirect’s provision will be subject to regular monitoring arrangements during the rundown, and if we have any concerns about the quality of delivery we will take action. If we had not agreed to extend Learndirect’s contract in this way the large number of learners currently on courses and other government services could have been at risk. The ESFA will closely monitor Learndirect’s performance during the extended contract and will take action if there are any concerns.</p><p> </p><p>AEB funding levels for 2017/18 for individual contract-based providers were determined either by the outcome of the procurement, or the standard methodology that applies to run down contracts that is set out above. There were separate arrangements in place for allocating funding to grant-based providers, which includes most colleges.</p><p> </p><p>In order to ensure continuity of provision for learners, all existing AEB contract holders, including Learndirect Ltd, were issued with a three-month contract extension for the period 1 August to 31 October 2017 to bridge the period between the end of the previous funding year and the commencement of the period after the procurement. All providers were offered the same percentage (26%) of their 2016/17 allocation. For Learndirect Ltd this equates to £15.96m.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton grouped question UIN 8409 8411 8412 question first answered 07/09/2017 16:02:19 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden