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1359467

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	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 potential merits of private companies sharing their apprenticeship levy funds with public bodies.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	56548
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>We are committed to supporting more employers to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need, and to support more people, from all backgrounds, to benefit from the high quality training that apprenticeships offer.</p><p>To help large employers make full use of their levy funds, we are making it easier for them to transfer their unused funds and support new starters in other businesses, sectors or regions. In September, we launched a new online service to allow levy paying employers to advertise funding pledges, and to enable other businesses to browse and apply for these funds. Private sector companies are able to transfer levy funds to employers in the public sector.</p><p>It is encouraging to see that companies, including DPD, Mace Group, and Amazon UK, have already begun to take advantage of this opportunity and pledge funds for transfer.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/10/2021 11:53:11 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1359783

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Sixth Form Education: Finance
	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 adequacy of funding for sixth form students.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Ms Lyn Brown
	uin	56926
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>We forecast future 16-19 year old student numbers and take into account population forecasts when considering the future need for education funding for 16-19 year olds. Future budgets for this education provision are being considered in the current Spending Review.</p><p>We have invested an extra £291 million in 16-19 education in the 2021-22 financial year. This is in addition to the £400 million awarded in the 2019 Spending Review, which was the biggest injection of funding into 16-19 education in a single year since 2010. This has allowed us to raise the base rate of funding for all providers of 16-19 education, including school sixth forms and sixth form colleges, from £4,000 in the 2019/20 academic year to £4,188 in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years, as well as to make further funding increases targeted on high value and high cost programmes.</p><p>This year, we have also made £83 million in capital funding available through the Post-16 Capacity Fund to support eligible post-16 providers to accommodate the upcoming increase in 16-19 year olds. Bids are currently being assessed and the outcome will be announced in due course.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 25/10/2021 11:56:34 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1359807

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Sixth Form Education: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to raise the rate of funding for sixth form education to at least £4,760 per student in the upcoming Spending Review; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	56950
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>We have invested an extra £291 million in 16-19 education in the 2021-22 financial year. This is in addition to the £400 million awarded in the 2019 Spending Review, which was the biggest injection of new money into 16-19 education in a single year since 2010. This has allowed us to raise the base rate of funding for all providers of 16-19 education, including school sixth forms and sixth-form colleges, from £4,000 in the 2019/20 academic year to £4,188 in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years, as well as to make further funding increases targeted on high value and high cost programmes.</p><p>As a result, the average total programme funding per 16-19 student has increased by nearly 10% from £4,516 in 2019/20 published allocations, to £4,958 in 2020/21 published allocations[1]. We will need to consider the outcome of the 2021 spending review and what this will mean for funding rates beyond the 2021/22 academic year.</p><p>[1] This calculation only includes institutions that have students receiving total programme funding. Some institutions receive only high needs funding, their students are not included in this calculation. In addition, the Condition of Funding adjustment for English and maths and the Advanced Maths Premium have been incorporated in total programme funding in 2019/20 to make this consistent with the definition in 2020/21.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/10/2021 11:39:12 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1359922

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	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, whether he has plans to review the effectiveness of the Apprenticeship Levy.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	57286
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of our reforms supporting employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.</p><p>We are making apprenticeships more flexible so that they better meet the needs of employers in all sectors. We are encouraging greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training so apprentices can be productive from day one in the workplace. We are also developing accelerated apprenticeships so that apprentices with substantial prior learning from other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Levels, can achieve occupational competence more quickly.</p><p>In August, we launched a new £7 million flexi-job apprenticeship fund to support greater use of apprenticeships in sectors such as creative and construction, where flexible working practices are commonplace. Flexi-job apprenticeships will enable apprentices to move between different host employers in a sector or region as they complete the training requirements for their apprenticeship.</p><p>We are also making it easier for large employers to make full use of their levy funds by transferring them to support new starts in small businesses, or in a certain sector or region. In September, we launched a new online service to allow levy-paying employers to pledge funds for transfer, making it easier for large and small employers alike to make better use of transfers.</p><p>We currently have no plans to review the apprenticeship levy, including how employers’ levy funds are used. The levy was created to support the uptake and delivery of high-quality apprenticeships and has been set at a level to fund this employer demand. It funds apprenticeships for employers of all sizes, including for smaller employers who do not have their own levy funds to use.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 57290 question first answered 22/10/2021 11:48:08 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1359927

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	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 information his Department holds on whether employers are using their levy funds to access high quality apprenticeship training and assessment.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	57288
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of our reforms to apprenticeships, supporting employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeships.</p><p>Employers that pay the levy can spend the funds available to them in their apprenticeship service accounts on apprenticeship training and assessment. Employers have developed over 630 high-quality apprenticeship standards in a diverse range of occupations, allowing them to spend the levy on the training that works for them.</p><p>Our reforms to apprenticeships have made them longer and better, with more off-the-job training and an independent assessment at the end. Ofsted inspects the quality of apprenticeship training provision at all levels. Any provider that receives an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted assessment for apprenticeships will be removed from the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers. We are also taking a number of steps to improve the quality of apprenticeships further. This includes refreshing the Register with more stringent criteria, investing in a comprehensive package of professional workforce development for apprenticeship providers and providing tools, advice, and guidance to support employers to give their apprentices a high-quality experience.</p><p>We publish a wide range of information on apprenticeships through our monthly and quarterly statistical releases. Information on the number of apprenticeship starts, achievements, types of apprenticeships undertaken (for example standards and sector subject areas), as well as the number of starts supported by apprenticeship service account levy funds, can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships</a>.</p><p>Provisional data show that there have been 319,400 starts reported to date in the 2020/21 academic year. Final year data will be published in November here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr#latest-releases" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr#latest-releases</a>.</p><p>In August 2020, we introduced incentive payments for employers taking on new apprentices as part of the Plan for Jobs. Latest figures show that over 101,000 apprentices have been supported through the apprenticeship incentives between August 2020 and September 2021, of which 76% of apprentices are under the age of 25. We have extended the £3,000 incentive payment for new apprentice hires of any age until 31 January 2022 to support employers to offer new apprenticeships.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 25/10/2021 14:19:55 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1359929

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	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, how much money raised from the Apprenticeship Levy remains un-spent as at 18 October 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	57289
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/10/2021 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland receive a share of levy funding and it is for the devolved administrations to decide how their allocations should be used. The Department for Education’s annual apprenticeship budget for England is set by Her Majesty’s Treasury and, although closely linked, is distinct from the total levy income collected. The levy has been set at a level to fund demand for apprenticeships in employers of all sizes.</p><p>In the 2021-22 financial year, funding available for investment in apprenticeships in England is around £2.5 billion, double that spent in the 2010-11 financial year in cash terms. Details of the apprenticeship budget spend for each financial year are included in the Education &amp; Skills Funding Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts.</p><p>Employers in England are able to access their apprenticeship levy contributions, plus a 10% government top up, via their digital apprenticeship service accounts. Employers can use these funds to pay for apprenticeship training and assessment in their business, or they can transfer them to support apprenticeships in other businesses. Employers have 24 months to use their funds once they enter their apprenticeship service account before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis.</p><p>As of 30 September 2021, the total balance of available funds in levy-paying employers’ Apprenticeship Service accounts is £4.81 billion. This represents funds that employers have contributed and are able to spend over a two-year period.</p><p>We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them, but they are able to if they wish. As well as funding new apprenticeships in levy-paying employers, income from the levy funds new apprenticeships in employers that do not pay the levy, existing apprentices that started in previous years, and additional payments to employers and providers.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 25/10/2021 12:05:55 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1359931

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	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 potential merits of increasing the flexibility in how employers can spend Apprenticeship Levy funds; and whether he has plans to reform existing restrictions.
	tabling member constituency	Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
	tabling member printed	Emma Hardy
	uin	57290
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The apprenticeship levy is an important part of our reforms supporting employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.</p><p>We are making apprenticeships more flexible so that they better meet the needs of employers in all sectors. We are encouraging greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training so apprentices can be productive from day one in the workplace. We are also developing accelerated apprenticeships so that apprentices with substantial prior learning from other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Levels, can achieve occupational competence more quickly.</p><p>In August, we launched a new £7 million flexi-job apprenticeship fund to support greater use of apprenticeships in sectors such as creative and construction, where flexible working practices are commonplace. Flexi-job apprenticeships will enable apprentices to move between different host employers in a sector or region as they complete the training requirements for their apprenticeship.</p><p>We are also making it easier for large employers to make full use of their levy funds by transferring them to support new starts in small businesses, or in a certain sector or region. In September, we launched a new online service to allow levy-paying employers to pledge funds for transfer, making it easier for large and small employers alike to make better use of transfers.</p><p>We currently have no plans to review the apprenticeship levy, including how employers’ levy funds are used. The levy was created to support the uptake and delivery of high-quality apprenticeships and has been set at a level to fund this employer demand. It funds apprenticeships for employers of all sizes, including for smaller employers who do not have their own levy funds to use.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 57286 question first answered 22/10/2021 11:48:07 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4645 label Biography information for Emma Hardy

1360185

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to (a) increase flexibility in the apprenticeship system and (b) extend access to workers on temporary contracts.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	56755
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>We are making apprenticeships more flexible so that they better meet the needs of employers in all sectors. We are encouraging greater use of innovative apprenticeship training models, such as the front-loading of off-the-job training, so apprentices can be productive from day one in the workplace. We are also developing accelerated apprenticeships so that apprentices with substantial prior learning from other skills programmes, such as traineeships and T Levels, can complete an apprenticeship more quickly. Additionally, we are making it easier for large employers to transfer levy funds to support new starts in small businesses, or in a certain sector or region. On 13 September 2021, we launched a new online service to allow levy paying employers to advertise funding pledges, enabling a much wider range of businesses to browse and apply for available funds.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise that some sectors with flexible employment patterns and short-term roles, including creative, digital, adult social care, transport, and manufacturing have found it challenging to benefit from the high-quality apprenticeships available. In August, to help these sectors, we launched our new flexi-job apprenticeship offer. We have invited sector bodies, groups of employers, and other interested organisations to register as flexi-job apprenticeship agencies, giving them access to a £7 million fund to support new agencies with their start-up costs. These agencies will enable apprentices to work across multiple short-term projects with different employers and allow them to benefit from the high-quality long-term training that an apprenticeship provides.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/10/2021 13:02:12 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1360736

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	BTEC Qualifications: North West
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people aged (a) 16 to 18 years old and (b) over 19 years old studied for a level 3 BTEC in (a) St Helens Metropolitan Borough and (b) Liverpool City Region in each year since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	St Helens North
	tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
	uin	58433
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>The data in the attached table covers level 3 learning aim enrolments that have BTEC in the title.</p><p>The data is broken down by St Helens and Liverpool City Region (Halton, Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, St Helens and Wirral) and by age groups of under 19 years and those over 19 years old.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/10/2021 13:06:48 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart attachment 1 file name 58433_level3_enrolment_table_v2.xlsx title 58433_table
	tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

1360738

	registered interest
	date	18/10/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	BTEC Qualifications: North West
	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 effect on levels of inequality in the North West region of the withdrawal of funding for certain BTEC qualifications.
	tabling member constituency	St Helens North
	tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
	uin	58434
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2021 answer text <p>We set out the qualifications we intend to fund alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3 in July 2021. We will continue to fund some BTECs and other Applied General qualifications (AGQs) in future, and these qualifications will continue to play an important role for 16 to 19 year olds and adults as they do now.</p><p> </p><p>Whilst we want clearer, simpler choices for students, we are not moving towards a binary system of just A levels and T Levels. Students will continue to be able to study BTECs and other AGQs as part of mixed programmes alongside A levels, where they meet new quality standards and support progression to higher education, for example in areas such as engineering, applied science and IT. Students will also be able to study qualifications like BTECs as their full programme of study where there is no A level or T Level, in areas such as performing and creative arts and sports science.</p><p> </p><p>T Levels are challenging qualifications developed with 250 leading employers, have significantly longer teaching hours and include a meaningful nine-week industry placement that sets them apart from many current vocational qualifications. We believe that it is the right thing to do to remove funding for technical qualifications that overlap with T Levels when they become nationally available. However, whilst we want clearer, simpler choices for students, we are not creating a binary system of just A levels and T Levels and will continue to fund qualifications such as BTECs and other AGQs in a number of areas. These include performing and creative arts, sport, health, and STEM subjects such as engineering, applied science, and IT.</p><p> </p><p>The impact assessment published alongside our final plans in July recognised that at a national level some students may find it more difficult to achieve level 3 in future, but we expect these changes to have a generally positive impact. We are clear that students taking qualifications that are no longer funded in future will have the most to gain from these changes because they are more likely to be taking qualifications that do not deliver the skills employers need. These students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels, putting them in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside our reforms to level 3 qualifications, we want to improve study at level 2 and below, which has been neglected for too long. Getting level 2 and below right is key to making sure that every student has a clear progression route, whether that is to high quality level 3 qualifications, apprenticeships, traineeships, or directly into skilled employment at level 2. We are considering feedback to the call for evidence which ran from 10 November 2020 to 14 February 2021 and will consult on proposals for reform later this year.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 22/10/2021 13:04:49 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
	tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn