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1135833

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Adoption
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the process by which adoptees access intermediary services for contact with biological relatives.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
	tabling member printed	Lloyd Russell-Moyle
	uin	271479
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/07/2019 answer text <p>We do not have any plans to improve intermediary services for adopted children or adoptees as there is a clear legislation framework in place. Under Section 98 of the Adoption and Children Act (2002) (England and Wales), an adopted person over the age of 18, as well as birth relatives of an adopted adult, now have the legal right to ask an adoption agency or adoption support agency that has registered as an intermediary agency to provide a service to let the adopted relative or birth relative know of their wish for communication. The agency can then seek information from a range of sources to identify and trace the adopted person. This new law came into effect from 30 December 2005. Priority will be given to cases where the adoption order was made on or before 12 November 1975.</p><p> </p><p>Any agency that provides an intermediary service must do so in accordance with the Intermediary Services Regulations (2005). The regulations require the intermediary agency to have regard to the welfare of the applicant, the subject of the application, and any other person who may be identified or otherwise affected by the application.</p><p> </p><p>Ofsted inspect adoption agencies who provide intermediary and birth records counselling to ensure it is well organised and accessible and that adopted adults and birth relatives are appropriately supported to understand their experiences. Where poor performance is found Ofsted set out how services should be improved.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi grouped question UIN 271478 question first answered 04/07/2019 15:52:34 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
	tabling member	4615 label Biography information for Lloyd Russell-Moyle

1135847

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Apprentices: Public Consultation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the March 2019 report by the National Audit Office and current inquiry by the Public Accounts Committee into apprenticeships, if he will launch a public consultation on the future of the apprenticeships programme.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271482
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>We welcome the Public Accounts Committee’s recent report and were pleased that the Committee has acknowledged our focus on putting quality at the heart of our apprenticeship reforms.</p><p>The government is carefully considering the Committee’s findings and will respond in due course. We keep all aspects of our policy under review in order that apprenticeships continue to support employers in developing the skills they need to grow, in addition to offering value for money for the taxpayer.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 15:37:02 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1135848

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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, whether apprenticeship levy-paying employers will continue to be able to use half of the funds that they contribute to the apprenticeship levy; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271483
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Levy-paying employers are able to use all of the funds that they contribute to the apprenticeship levy and which are available to them in their apprenticeship service account. In addition, employers receive a 10% top-up to the funds entering their account every month which they are also able to spend on apprenticeship training and assessment.</p><p>We continue to keep all aspects of funding policy under review.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 14:45:42 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1135849

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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, what steps he is taking to help apprenticeship levy-paying employers to use more of the levy funding available to them than the 15 per cent that they used between 2017 and 2019; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271484
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Spending on apprenticeships is demand-led. Employers can choose the type, level and quantity of apprenticeships that they offer, as well as when they offer the apprenticeships, to meet their current and future skills needs.</p><p>Between May 2017 and April 2019, levy-paying employers spent 18% of the funds available to them on the training and assessment of new apprentices. In addition, levy-paying employers will also have benefitted from ongoing funding for apprenticeships for their employees which started prior to the introduction of the levy. They will also benefit from additional payments to support apprentices employed with levy-payers (such as English and Maths teaching and payments to support disadvantaged learners), and 95% of the funding for training for any apprenticeships started once their levy funds have been exhausted.</p><p>The Education and Skills Funding Agency works closely with employers, for example through webinars and employer roadshows, to encourage them to increase the number of apprenticeships that they offer and make the most of the long-term benefits that apprenticeships can bring to their organisations. We have ongoing face-to-face support for over 1,000 of the largest levy-paying employers through our national account managers, and ongoing support via telephone for small and medium-sized enterprises to encourage them to invest their levy funds.</p><p>To further support all employers to make the long-term, sustainable investment in training, we have increased the amount that levy-paying employers can transfer to other employers from 10% to 25%.</p><p>We do not anticipate that all levy-payers will use all the funds in their accounts. Income from the levy is also used to fund apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 15:12:08 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1135858

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	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, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2019 to Question 267319 on Apprentices: Taxation, how frequently his Department plans to publish expiry of funds information for the apprenticeship levy.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271486
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>We do not currently intend to publish expiry of funds information for the apprenticeship levy as a matter of course.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 15:21:58 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1136022

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Department for Education: Credit Unions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department offers employees a payroll deduction service to enable staff to join a credit union; and if he will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Harrow West
	tabling member printed	Gareth Thomas
	uin	271327
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>Although the department does not offer employees a specific payroll deduction service to enable staff to join a credit union, we offer consolidated voluntary deductions from pay for subscriptions and premiums as well as a Give As You Earn scheme to enable employees to make tax-free donations to charities through payroll.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 15:07:54 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	177 label Biography information for Gareth Thomas

1135730

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Free School Meals
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children with working parents qualify for free school meals.
	tabling member printed	Lord Lennie
	uin	HL16823
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/07/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally. Free school meals (FSM) are aimed at families who are out of work, and those in work with low earnings.</p><p>To be eligible to receive FSM, a pupil or their parent must be in receipt of one of the following listed benefits, and must make a claim to the school for FSM. The benefits include:</p><blockquote><p>Income Support,</p><p>income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance,</p><p>income-related Employment and Support Allowance,</p><p>support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,</p><p>the guaranteed element of Pension Credit,</p><p>Child Tax Credit (provided they are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190),</p><p>Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for 4 weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit,</p><p>Universal Credit - if they apply on or after 1 April 2018 their household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits they get).</p></blockquote> answering member printed Lord Agnew of Oulton question first answered 10/07/2019 14:27:12 answering member 4689 label Biography information for Lord Agnew of Oulton
	tabling member	4338 label Biography information for Lord Lennie

1135834

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Graduates: Average Earnings
	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 ensuring universities publish potential earnings returns for all degree courses.
	tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
	tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
	uin	271402
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2019 answer text <p>Students’ ability to make informed choices is at the heart of the higher education reform agenda. The government is taking steps to improve the quality of information provided to students and how it is presented. We want to equip prospective students with the information to make the right choice for them about where and what to study.</p><p> </p><p>The value of higher education is about more than just economic returns. It provides wider benefits such as employability, social impact and important cultural value, which enriches our society. However, data shows that there are disparities between the outcomes seen from the same subject at different institutions, highlighting universities that need to improve and maximise the potential of their courses.</p><p> </p><p>The Unistats website is an official site that allows prospective students to search for and compare data and information on university and college courses across the UK, and it is available at: <a href="https://unistats.ac.uk/" target="_blank">https://unistats.ac.uk/</a>. It is owned and operated by The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, The Office for Students, The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and The Scottish Funding Council and contains subject and course level data for each higher education provider. The information currently available includes average earnings 6 months after graduation, which has been taken from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, and average earnings 3 years after graduation which has been calculated from the Department for Education’s Longitudinal Education outcomes dataset. We expect that the Office for Students will launch a new information resource tool to replace Unistats in autumn 2019.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 08/07/2019 11:56:52 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
	tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1135880

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Numeracy: Nottinghamshire
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the level of numeracy in Nottinghamshire.
	tabling member constituency	Mansfield
	tabling member printed	Ben Bradley
	uin	271589
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The Department is investing to improve Mathematics education from early years through to age 18, so that young people have the right skills for employment, further education and everyday life.</p><p>In early years, the Department is investing £20 million in the Professional Development Programme. This will provide training on language, literacy and numeracy education for pre-reception early years staff in disadvantaged areas, including around 45 settings in Nottinghamshire.</p><p>Since 2014, the Department has funded a network of 35 Maths Hubs across England, including two lead schools in Nottinghamshire (George Spencer Academy and Minster School). The Hubs have sought to improve Mathematics teaching from early years through to post-16. Maths Hubs deliver the £76 million Teaching for Mastery programme, which adapts Mathematics pedagogy from top performing east-Asian jurisdictions to English schools. The programme is funded to reach a total of 11,000 primary and secondary schools across England by 2022. This includes establishing a Mastery Readiness Pogramme for schools in greatest need.</p><p>To further support the transition between primary and secondary school, schools in Nottinghamshire have also received approximately £1.1 million in additional funding to raise levels of literacy and numeracy of Year 7 pupils. Students on a 16 to 18 study programme who have yet to achieve a GCSE grade 4 or above in Mathematics are required to continue to study the subject.</p><p>The Department is funding the £16 million Advanced Mathematics Support Programme to improve and increase provision of, and participation in, AS and A level Mathematics, further Mathematics, and level 3 core Mathematics qualifications, through a range of support to help schools and colleges improve advanced Mathematics teaching.</p><p>In 2018, 77% of pupils in Nottinghamshire local authority met the expected standard for Mathematics at Key Stage 2, which is 1% higher than the England average and up from 70% in 2016 when new tests were introduced.</p><p>At GCSE level, 71.8% of Nottinghamshire local authority’s pupils achieved a grade 9 to 4 at GCSE Mathematics in 2018, which is slightly higher than the figure for 2017. 75.3% of 19 year olds held a GCSE 9 to 4 or other level 2 qualification in 2018, compared to the national average of 75.6%. 23% of academic students took Mathematics A level at the end of Key Stage 5.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 09/07/2019 15:01:45 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
	tabling member	4663 label Biography information for Ben Bradley

1135850

	registered interest
	date	01/07/2019
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Retail Trade: Apprentices
	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 reasons for the reduction in retail sector apprenticeship starts between 2012 and 2017.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	271485
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2019 answer text <p>The retail framework had around 1,000 starts in 2017/18, with a further 8,300 on the new retail standards. Two of the largest supermarkets were involved in the design of these standards.</p><p> </p><p>It is important to recognise that apprenticeships are paid jobs and can be subject to wider labour market and economic pressures. The impact of a number of companies closing down, online shopping and automation means that there has been a general decrease in recruitment within the retail sector.</p><p> </p><p>In 2018, I hosted a roundtable with employers in the retail sector, including John Lewis and Greene King, to explore some of the challenges and opportunities for apprenticeships in retail, and we continue to work closely with employers to better understand these.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this year, I met with the British Retail Consortium, and I am in regular contact with ministers from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the issue.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/07/2019 16:54:49 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin