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1224979

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Department of Health and Social Care: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74504
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/07/2020 answer text <p>The Department has taken a proactive approach to apprenticeships and is working to embed apprenticeships so that they are a core part of our learning and development offer. We continue to increase the take-up of apprenticeships year on year and apprentices currently make up 2.5% of the Department’s 1,808 workforce.</p><p>We are refreshing our apprenticeship strategy and working on our engagement strategy across the Department to continue raising awareness.</p><p>We are continuing with our proactive approach to align apprenticeships opportunities more closely with our recruitment activity.</p> answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar question first answered 23/07/2020 17:19:02 answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar previous answer version 38837 answering member constituency Charnwood answering member printed Edward Argar answering member 4362 label Biography information for Edward Argar
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224981

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Cabinet Office
answering dept id	53
answering dept short name	Cabinet Office
answering dept sort name	Cabinet Office
hansard heading	Cabinet Office: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to meet the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74505
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2020 answer text <p>The Cabinet Office supports the use of apprenticeships as a means of building expertise, filling skills gaps and improving the diversity of our talent pool. The Department is in the final year of a three-year action plan to increase the number of apprenticeships in the Department. We run regular recruitment campaigns for apprentices.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 21/07/2020 14:35:09 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224982

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department for Transport
answering dept id	27
answering dept short name	Transport
answering dept sort name	Transport
hansard heading	Department for Transport: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to meet the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74506
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The Department remains fully committed to the Government’s apprenticeship agenda and is actively encouraging both the recruitment of apprentices externally, through proactive outreach and the utilisation of apprenticeships to develop internal capability and strengthen talent pipelines.</p><p> </p><p>Due to the diverse work of the department, DfT core and each of its executive agencies (DfT Group) have developed localised strategies to support ongoing work against public-sector apprenticeship targets, and improve the overall quality of the apprentice experience.</p><p> </p><p>For mainstream recruitment, we have embedded a process standard across DfT Group requiring vacancy holders to consider recruiting apprentices as the default resourcing option to fill vacant roles. This is alongside work with the policy, HR, project delivery, finance and other technical operational professions to actively encourage apprenticeship uptake to support skills and capability growth and talent retention.</p><p> </p><p>From Autumn 2020 we plan to move to volume-based recruitment and apprenticeship management. Alongside this, we will continue to focus on developing our corporate support offer for apprentices and their line-managers, and strengthening supplier engagement to drive quality of provision.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Pendle answering member printed Andrew Stephenson question first answered 20/07/2020 14:14:55 answering member 4044 label Biography information for Andrew Stephenson
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224983

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74507
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The Department gives full regard to the public sector apprenticeship target. The Department, and each of the Executive Agencies that contributes to the Department’s target, have apprenticeship plans that focus on their specific capability needs and skills.</p><p> </p><p>Together, we are promoting apprenticeships as a means of recruiting new and diverse talent. This includes exploring which roles are suitable for apprentices, and broadening our reach by advertising apprentice vacancies on the Government’s ‘Recruit an Apprentice’ service. The Department also promotes and encourages apprenticeships as a route for existing staff to build capability and develop new skills.</p><p> </p><p>The Department, our Executive Agencies, and our wider public sector Partner Organisations, share our ideas and experience of delivering against the apprenticeship agenda, to build our apprentice numbers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Department offers a wide range of apprenticeships from Level 3 to Level 7. This week, our Permanent Secretary held a virtual “Meet and Greet” with apprentices, celebrating the great work that they do for the Department. We also celebrate the work of our apprentices and promote further use of apprenticeships through an annual Apprenticeship Awards ceremony.</p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 20/07/2020 14:03:23 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224984

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Home Office: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74508
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The Home Office is six months into the implementation of the Apprenticeships Operating Model (AOM) designed to centralise all HR end-to-end processes (including streamlining recruitment activities through to programme onboarding). The growth of a dedicated team has been stood up to increase the quality and quality of apprenticeships for the future. This industry tested model has the capacity and capability to meet the minimum 2.3% statutory target (England workforce) annually. To enable delivery, there are strong governance frameworks in place which are closely connected to the Home Office People Strategy 2018 – 2023.</p><p> </p><p>The refreshed AOM and strengthened workforce planning enables the dept. to address the target shortfall and annual ministerial commitments within a two-year period. Key to assessing performance is through the delivery of a robust Assurance Framework to ensure demand and delivery are aligned and reviewed quarterly and RAG status at Director General level.</p><p> </p><p>In the coming six months, the Home Office is committed to prioritising apprenticeships recruitment across operational delivery (largest population in the department), policy and digital professions. This demonstrates the Home Office’s pledge to future skills development: attracting the best talent from the external labour market whilst creating opportunities for internal professional capability building.</p> answering member constituency Old Bexley and Sidcup answering member printed James Brokenshire question first answered 20/07/2020 16:33:46 answering member 1530 label Biography information for James Brokenshire
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224985

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Ministry of Defence: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74509
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is proud to be one of the largest deliverers of apprenticeships in the UK, with over 20,000 personnel engaged on a nationally recognised apprenticeship programme at any one time and over 90 per cent of our non-commissioned military recruits offered an apprenticeship relating to their trade. Public sector bodies with 250 or more staff have a target to employ an average of at least 2.3 % of their staff as new apprentice starts over the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021. The Armed Forces are exceeding this target with an average of 8.3% of employees starting an apprenticeship in 2017-2019.</p><p>The MOD's Civil Service (CS) is contributing towards the CS public sector target. The MOD CS has achieved a total of 2.1% of its total workforce as apprentices against the legislative target for the public sector of 2.3% by March 2021, to date. This has increased from 1.6% in 2019/20. We committed to enrolling 50,000 apprenticeships between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2020 and we exceeded that target in November 2018, over a year ahead of schedule.</p> answering member constituency Plymouth, Moor View answering member printed Johnny Mercer question first answered 20/07/2020 12:53:04 answering member 4485 label Biography information for Johnny Mercer
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224986

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Justice
answering dept id	54
answering dept short name	Justice
answering dept sort name	Justice
hansard heading	Ministry of Justice: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74510
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2020 answer text <p>The Ministry of Justice’s Apprenticeship Strategy, designed to meet the allocated targets consists of 3 strands:</p><p>1) Promoting the use of Cabinet Office approved apprenticeships programmes to develop professional skills;</p><p>2) Designing and delivering operational apprenticeship standards for specific operational roles; and</p><p>3) Promoting the use of apprenticeships as an entry route / development of career pathways for staff at all levels of the organisation.</p><p>In March 2020 the MoJ reported a year on year increase in apprenticeships starts vs 2018-19 by 31%; and it was expected that this trend would continue into the new financial year, with the recruitment of c3,500 prison officer apprentices nationally throughout 2020-21.</p><p>Unfortunately, Covid-19 has significantly impacted the delivery of our apprenticeship strategy; particularly in the prison operational roles with activity being paused in the short term. Plans are in place to rapidly re-start operational apprenticeships as soon as it is both safe and operationally viable to do so.</p><p>The apprenticeship strategy focuses on recruitment of operational staff within prisons being largely predicated on an apprenticeship model, with all new operational support grades being strongly encouraged to undertake a level 2 apprenticeship as part of their initial training; and plans for all new prison officers to undertake a level 3 apprenticeship with effect from January 2021 (following a successful pilot of the programme in early 2020)</p><p>Across the MoJ, 1,199 staff are currently undertaking an apprenticeship programme of learning; of which 143 are on a higher level (degree level or above) programme. Apprenticeships span a broad range of professional and operational areas such as Business Administration, Customer Service, Operational Delivery, Project Management and Finance. These cover a range of qualifications from Level 2 (equivalent to GCSE, up to Level 7 which is equivalent to a Masters Degree.</p><p>The MoJ Apprenticeship Strategy is being updated to include an even stronger focus on ensuring equity of access to programmes for staff across all protected characteristics and will seek to understand trends for withdrawals and completions.</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 24/07/2020 13:14:15 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224987

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74511
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2020 answer text <p>Since 2016, we and our Executive Agency, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Services, have held annual external apprenticeship recruitment campaigns enrolling new entrants and existing staff, onto a range of programmes from level 2 to level 7 (post-degree). Our current apprenticeships include business administration, human resources and finance and accounting. In 2019, we opened our level 3 business administration programme to non-graduates only, to broaden opportunities to join our department.</p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams question first answered 24/07/2020 12:21:16 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224988

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Department for Work and Pensions: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2020 answer text <p>DWP has a total of twenty-four different apprenticeship programmes ranging from Level 2 to Level 7 (MBA level).</p><p>Continuous learning is an important part of our Capability strategy and through access to Apprenticeships, these schemes are available widely across all professional areas throughout the department.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 21/07/2020 15:45:14 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224989

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Department for Education: Apprentices
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 reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74513
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/07/2020 answer text <p>The department has successfully met its public sector target for the number of apprenticeship starts in each of the previous three years. The table below shows the target and actual number of starts, and the resulting percentage of the workforce that this represents.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Target number of starts</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Actual number of starts</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Percentage of the workforce</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>108</p></td><td><p>116</p></td><td><p>2.30%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>134</p></td><td><p>195</p></td><td><p>3.20%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>155</p></td><td><p>188</p></td><td><p>2.80%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Data taken from Department for Education Departmental Summary 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20.</p> answering member constituency Chichester answering member printed Gillian Keegan question first answered 24/07/2020 13:25:38 answering member 4680 label Biography information for Gillian Keegan
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon