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1167387

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Sports
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 role that summer holiday clubs play in supporting the ambition set out in the Government's School Sport and Activity Action Plan to help children undertake more physical activity.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	7630
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s School Sport and Activity Action Plan, published in July, provides children with a greater opportunity to do 60 minutes of sport and physical activity every day inside and outside school. The Department is investing £2.5 million in 2019-20 to support schools to improve their physical education and school sport offer to pupils, including helping schools to open up their facilities beyond the school day.</p><p> </p><p>The £320 million PE and Sport Premium supports primary schools to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of their physical education, physical activity and sport including extra-curricular activities after school and holiday clubs.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme aims to provide children with access to free healthy food and enriching activities over the summer, including physical activity. In 2019, the Department invested £9 million in 11 local authority areas and have just launched a bidding round for a further £9 million for 2020.</p><p>The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the 2019 programme which will report early next year.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 04/11/2019 16:41:17 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1167435

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Supply Teachers: Training
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 supply teachers are sufficiently trained in the subjects they teach.
tabling member constituency	Southampton, Itchen
tabling member printed	Royston Smith
uin	7767
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Headteachers use their professional judgement to decide the structure of the school’s workforce, including recruiting and deploying staff in a way that best meets the needs of their school and pupils. Schools, academies, and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts and teacher absences, and the level of training required to teach those subjects.</p><p>The Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012 set out the qualifications for teachers employed by schools, including supply teachers. In maintained schools, teachers must hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), except those who satisfy the requirements for non-qualified teachers to carry out specified work set out in the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012, for example, instructors with special qualifications or experience.</p><p>Academies and Free Schools can employ teaching staff without the automatic requirement for them to hold QTS. This applies equally to supply teachers and teachers employed by schools. The Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012 are available here: <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/762/introduction/made" target="_blank">http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/762/introduction/made</a>.</p><p>To be awarded QTS, a teacher must demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level, including those relating to subject knowledge. The Teachers’ Standards are available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards</a>.</p><p>The Department has launched a new deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service to improve agency practices and support schools with getting value for money when hiring agency workers. Agencies on the deal must be open with schools and staff about the rates they charge, conduct consistent, rigorous background screening checks, and adhere to strict controls around the charging of temp-to-perm fees. Information on the guidance included in the deal is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers</a>.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 04/11/2019 17:36:55 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4478 label Biography information for Royston Smith

1167439

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Primary Education: National Curriculum Tests
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support the mental well-being of primary school students undertaking Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 examinations.
tabling member constituency	Southampton, Itchen
tabling member printed	Royston Smith
uin	7771
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The Department’s aim is for all children to leave primary school feeling that they have worked hard and achieved all that they can. We do not want assessments to worry pupils and impact their self-esteem or mental wellbeing.</p><p> </p><p>In response to the consultation on the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper, published July 2018, the Government has made several commitments to help safeguard the mental wellbeing of primary school children. We confirmed our commitment to take forward three core proposals which will transform support for children and young people by: putting in place Mental Health Support Teams for schools; incentivising every school to have a Designated Senior Lead for mental health; and the piloting of a four-week waiting time standard for NHS Children and Young People’s mental health services.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also committed to mental health awareness training for a member of staff from all state funded primary schools by 2022, providing further support for schools to help promote mental wellbeing for all children.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 04/11/2019 17:31:08 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4478 label Biography information for Royston Smith

1167446

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Merseyside
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department has allocated to the (a) Liverpool city region and (b) St Helens borough to support children with SEND in each year since April 2010.
tabling member constituency	St Helens North
tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
uin	7775
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Funding for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is drawn from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).</p><p>Local authorities are required to provide sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the cost of additional support for pupils with SEND, up to the value of £6,000.</p><p>When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEND exceed £6,000, the local authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This top-up funding, and funding for special schools, comes from the local authority’s high needs block of the DSG.</p><p>In 2013, the schools and high needs funding blocks DSG were created. As the DSG includes other funding such as for early years, the department is unable to provide comparable figures before the creation of the blocks within the DSG in 2013-14.</p><p>The high needs funding allocations for those children with more complex SEND, from 2013-14, are set out below.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>For Liverpool city region (which includes the following local authorities: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral):</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>High needs funding allocation</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>£148.9 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>£155.0 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>£157.5 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>£157.9 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>£162.3 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>£169.4 million*</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-20</p></td><td><p>£174.1 million*</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-21 provisional allocations</p></td><td><p>£198.5 million</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>For St Helen’s borough:</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>High needs funding allocation</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013-14</p></td><td><p>£17.1 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014-15</p></td><td><p>£17.8 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015-16</p></td><td><p>£18.4 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016-17</p></td><td><p>£18.4 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017-18</p></td><td><p>£18.7 million</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018-19</p></td><td><p>£22.4 million*</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019-20</p></td><td><p>£22.3 million*</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020-21 provisional allocations</p></td><td><p>£24.1 million</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>*In December 2018, the department allocated an additional £250 million of high needs funding, in recognition of funding pressures. This additional funding is included within the final totals displayed.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 17:15:17 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1167493

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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, with reference to the Government’s apprenticeship and levy statistics, published in October 2019, how many of the 780 recorded accounts of apprenticeship levy voucher transfers resulting on starts on standards were transferred from levy-paying companies to non-levy paying small to medium-sized employers; and what proportion of those apprenticeships were in the construction sector.
tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
uin	7734
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>Levy-paying employers in England do not use digital vouchers. Employers that pay the apprenticeship levy use funds in their apprenticeship service accounts to pay for training and assessment and to transfer to other employers</p><p><br> In October 2019, the apprenticeships and levy statistics publication reported that there were 780 transferred commitments that have materialised into apprenticeship starts as recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) as at 31 August 2019. Of these, 20 (2.7%) were starts in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area.</p><p>Please note:<br> 1) The figures above are rounded to the nearest 10 and percentage to 1 decimal place.</p><p>2) The percentage is derived from unrounded figures.</p><p>3) The figures above show only those transfers where a start is taking place on a standard in the Construction, Planning and Built Environment sector subject area. The construction industry sector could include starts on standards in other sector subject areas (i.e. Business, Administration and Law). <br> <br> We are unable to identify whether a transfer between apprenticeship service accounts was from a levy-paying company to a non-levy paying company as we do not centrally hold data on the size of employer and their industry sector. This means we cannot identify if these transfers of levy funds were to the apprenticeship service accounts of small to medium-sized employers. The Department for Education does, however, periodically perform an analysis linking ILR data to the Inter-Departmental Business Register data (held by the Office for National Statistics) to identify the size and industry sector of employers, with the most recent analysis covering the 2016/17 academic year. Thes statistics are available at the following link:<br> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics</a>.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 16:37:23 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1167494

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Level 2 apprenticeship starts there were in construction in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2016-17 and (d) 2015-16.
tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
uin	7735
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The below table shows level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. This is the latest available data, and it is taken from the ‘Apprenticeships in England by Industry Characteristics’ statistics publication: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/apprenticeships-in-england-by-industry-characteristics</a>.</p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="2"><p><strong>Table 1: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in the construction industry sector: 2015/16 to 2016/17</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Academic year</p></td><td><p>Number of level 2 apprenticeship starts</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>19,470</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>18,390</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:</p><p>1) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.</p><p> </p><p>We also publish apprenticeship starts by sector subject area. The number of level 2 apprenticeship starts for the sector subject area ‘Construction, Planning and the Built Environment’ for the academic years 2015/16 to 2017/18 is shown in the table below, along with starts in the first 3 quarters of the 2018/19 academic year. Data for 2015/16 to 2017/18 are published here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804343/Monthly-apprenticeship-starts-fwk-tool_May-2019.xlsx" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/804343/Monthly-apprenticeship-starts-fwk-tool_May-2019.xlsx</a>.</p><p>Data for the first 3 quarters of 2018/19 are published here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814997/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-framework-standard-tool_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/814997/Apprenticeship-starts-ach-framework-standard-tool_201718_Q3-201819_July2019.xlsx</a>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 2: Level 2 apprenticeship starts in Construction, Planning and the Built Environment sector subject area: 2015/16 to Q3 2018/19</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Academic year</p></td><td><p>Number of level 2 apprenticeship starts</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>16,670</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>15,840</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>14,770</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 (August to April 19) provisional</p></td><td><p>11,630</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record (ILR).</p><p>2) In this table, numbers are a count of the number of starts at any point during the period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.</p><p>3) Apprenticeship starts include all funded and unfunded learners reported on the ILR.</p><p>4) For the 2018/19 academic year (reported to date), numbers are counted only for months August 18 to April 19 (quarter 3).</p><p>5) All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 17:34:56 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1167495

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices: Construction
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how a student completing an On-Site Construction T Level will transition onto a Level 2 apprenticeship in bricklaying should that student need more training in hand skills on that specialist pathway.
tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
uin	7736
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>The T level in On-Site Construction incorporates a number of occupational standards, including level 2 Bricklayer. A T level student who chooses the bricklaying occupational specialism will therefore develop many of the skills included in the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship. Once the T level qualification has been approved, we will be able to assess more accurately any differences between the competence conveyed by the level 2 Bricklayer apprenticeship and the T level in On-Site Construction.</p><p>Under current apprenticeship rules, a T level student would be able to progress to a level 2 apprenticeship if it allows them to acquire substantive new skills and the content of the training is materially different from their T level. The apprenticeship would need to be a minimum of 12 months in duration and involve at least 20% off-the-job training.</p><p>Our analysis of the overlap between the approved T level qualification and the level 2 apprenticeship will therefore be important in determining progression options, including eligibility for an apprenticeship at the same or a lower level.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 17:24:09 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1167499

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
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, what assessment he has made of the ability of apprenticeship levy paying employers to transfer levy funds to non-levy paying employers.
tabling member constituency	Blackpool South
tabling member printed	Gordon Marsden
uin	7647
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>We are committed to supporting employers to engage with apprenticeships to help invest in the long-term skills needs of their business. We have already seen employers making use of transfers to support apprenticeship starts in their supply chains, or to meet local skills needs. Since April 2018 there have been 1,020 transferred commitments where the transfer of funds between apprenticeship service accounts had been approved. Of these transferred commitments, 780 have so far resulted in apprenticeship starts.</p><p>We have taken a number of steps to make it easier for levy-paying employers to transfer funds to other employers. In response to employer feedback, in April 2019 we raised the cap on transfers to 25% of the annual value of funds entering levy-payers’ apprenticeship service accounts. We have also announced that we will shortly enable levy payers to transfer funds to cover the full cost of training for 16 to 18 year olds in the smallest businesses with fewer than 50 employers.</p><p>Transfers give levy-paying employers more options in how they use their levy funds, as well as creating apprenticeship opportunities for organisations who may have previously felt that employing an apprentice was beyond their reach. We are pleased to see that levy payers with uncommitted funds are increasingly using transfers to support apprenticeship starts in non-levy paying employers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 17:08:24 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	465 label Biography information for Gordon Marsden

1167512

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Adoption Support Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report entitled, Investing in families, published by the APPG for Adoption and Permanence, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling Voluntary Adoption Agencies to apply directly to the Adoption Support Fund.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	7795
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/11/2019 answer text <p>My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced on 15 October 2019 that the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) would continue until 2021, this announcement can be found at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-support-for-adoptive-families" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-support-for-adoptive-families</a>. Funding beyond 2021 will be subject to the full Spending Review, planned in 2020. The recommendations from the All-Party Parliamentary Group report, including enabling voluntary adoption agencies to apply directly to the ASF, will be considered as part of this process.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 04/11/2019 17:23:40 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1167558

registered interest
date	30/10/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Solicitors: Training
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed withdrawal of Professional and Career Development Loans on those from low-income households seeking to qualify as solicitors through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, which is scheduled to be introduced in 2021.
tabling member printed	Lord Storey
uin	HL566
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/11/2019 answer text <p>Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDLs) closed to new applicants in January 2019. The department identified the majority of prospective applicants had access to statutory loans, such as Advanced Learner Loans and postgraduate master’s loans, for the courses they intended to study. Demand for PCDLs had fallen significantly as a result.</p><p> </p><p>It was not possible to assess the impact of this decision on an examination that did not exist at the time.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 05/11/2019 14:30:20 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	4238 label Biography information for Lord Storey