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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

1224993

registered interest
date	15/07/2020
answering body	Department for International Trade
answering dept id	202
answering dept short name	International Trade
answering dept sort name	International Trade
hansard heading	Department for International Trade: Apprentices
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to reach the public sector apprenticeship target.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	74514
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/07/2020 answer text <p>The Department for International Trade (DIT) is committed to building a diverse, inclusive and expert department. Apprenticeships play an important role in delivering that commitment and helping our employees to achieve their full potential.</p><p> </p><p>DIT offers a range of apprenticeships across different disciplines to build both individual and departmental professional capability. This year, we exceeded our Civil Service target (of 51) with 57 new apprenticeship starts.</p><p> </p><p>We have achieved this by:</p><p> </p><ul><li><p>Putting in place good quality apprenticeships that reflect DIT priorities and with the right level of support for participants.</p></li><li><p>Offering (where appropriate) an apprenticeship qualification when recruiting to some entry-level roles externally.</p></li><li><p>Targeting key capability priorities within our current workforce, giving them additional opportunities to retrain and up-skill.</p></li></ul><p> </p><p>We intend to maintain this and have every confidence that we will achieve the target of 2.3% by March 2021 as part of the Civil Service.</p> answering member constituency Chelsea and Fulham answering member printed Greg Hands question first answered 20/07/2020 10:09:05 answering member 1526 label Biography information for Greg Hands
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1224054

registered interest
date	13/07/2020
answering body	Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept id	7
answering dept short name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
answering dept sort name	Housing, Communities and Local Government
hansard heading	Churches: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the timeframe for people to be able to sing in churches as the covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	72873
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises that singing is a key part of our cultural and religious life. We have published Guidance for the Safe Use of Places of Worship during COVID-19 which provides advice on singing within places of worship: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fcovid-19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-during-the-pandemic-from-4-july&amp;data=02%7C01%7CKamalpreet.Rana%40communities.gov.uk%7C5177ef58c88c424912f808d828922f2c%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637303955599823283&amp;sdata=fZXB2PfDODHTnzkFF6Qnbgfo4ttmJ3tqL9Kxbi7Dtsw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-safe-use-of-places-of-worship-during-the-pandemic-from-4-july</a> . The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has also published guidance for people who work in performing arts, including organisations, venue operators and participants: <a href="https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fguidance%2Fworking-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19%2Fperforming-arts&amp;data=02%7C01%7CKamalpreet.Rana%40communities.gov.uk%7C5177ef58c88c424912f808d828922f2c%7Cbf3468109c7d43dea87224a2ef3995a8%7C0%7C0%7C637303955599823283&amp;sdata=SgggugFPOjxZ39nSRqDswO3q4tXah4aFA6GDP0jEiIw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/performing-arts</a> . Singing is a central element of many religious practices but poses a particular risk of spreading the virus. The Government and medical and scientific communities are urgently engaged in research around transmission risk and how activities such as singing and chanting can be managed safely indoors, by congregations and by amateurs.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 16/07/2020 14:11:17 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1222674

registered interest
date	09/07/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Internet: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Education and (b) representatives from telecommunication companies on whitelisting educational websites for children from lower income households.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	71732
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2020 answer text <p>It is essential that all children, regardless of their family circumstances, have the opportunity to continue to access high quality education throughout the COVID19 pandemic. Let me reassure you that the Government recognises the importance of both ensuring broadband connectivity and supporting children’s access to online learning during this time. My Department is working closely with the Department for Education to ensure vulnerable children have access to online educational resources. Furthermore my Department has previously agreed measures with telecoms providers to support vulnerable consumers more generally. These measures will also indirectly benefit children’s education. For example, as part of the voluntary commitments, the major telecoms providers committed to remove all data allowance caps on all current fixed broadband services.</p><p>The Department for Education has worked with major telecoms companies to zero rate (otherwise known as whitelisting) the Hungry Little Minds and EdenRed school meal voucher website. Zero-rating is a helpful way to provide families with support to access critical resources where the majority of content is held on one website. Most educational resources including Oak Academy, however, use content that is hosted elsewhere (such as on Youtube or Vimeo) meaning that they will still incur data charges.</p><p>The Department for Education is therefore working with the major telecommunications companies to improve internet connectivity for disadvantaged and vulnerable families more widely than selected websites. For families who rely on a mobile internet connection, mobile network operators are working to provide access to free additional data offering them more flexibility to access the resources that they need the most. The Department for Education has also delivered or dispatched over 200,000 laptops and tablets and over 47,000 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts who are best placed to prioritise children and young people who need devices.</p><p>The Department for Education has also launched a service to provide children and young people free access to BT wifi hotspots. 10,000 families will initially be able to access the scheme. This offer is currently being piloted and will be rolled out across England in the coming months. The Department for Education is currently working with BT to expand this offer to allow more children to access the internet through their network of BT wifi hotspots.</p><p><strong><p><p><p></strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 71733 71734 question first answered 17/07/2020 14:22:44 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1222676

registered interest
date	09/07/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Internet: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Education and (b) telecommunication companies on improving digital access to online education resources, such as the Oak Academy, for children from low income households.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	71733
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2020 answer text <p>It is essential that all children, regardless of their family circumstances, have the opportunity to continue to access high quality education throughout the COVID19 pandemic. Let me reassure you that the Government recognises the importance of both ensuring broadband connectivity and supporting children’s access to online learning during this time. My Department is working closely with the Department for Education to ensure vulnerable children have access to online educational resources. Furthermore my Department has previously agreed measures with telecoms providers to support vulnerable consumers more generally. These measures will also indirectly benefit children’s education. For example, as part of the voluntary commitments, the major telecoms providers committed to remove all data allowance caps on all current fixed broadband services.</p><p>The Department for Education has worked with major telecoms companies to zero rate (otherwise known as whitelisting) the Hungry Little Minds and EdenRed school meal voucher website. Zero-rating is a helpful way to provide families with support to access critical resources where the majority of content is held on one website. Most educational resources including Oak Academy, however, use content that is hosted elsewhere (such as on Youtube or Vimeo) meaning that they will still incur data charges.</p><p>The Department for Education is therefore working with the major telecommunications companies to improve internet connectivity for disadvantaged and vulnerable families more widely than selected websites. For families who rely on a mobile internet connection, mobile network operators are working to provide access to free additional data offering them more flexibility to access the resources that they need the most. The Department for Education has also delivered or dispatched over 200,000 laptops and tablets and over 47,000 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts who are best placed to prioritise children and young people who need devices.</p><p>The Department for Education has also launched a service to provide children and young people free access to BT wifi hotspots. 10,000 families will initially be able to access the scheme. This offer is currently being piloted and will be rolled out across England in the coming months. The Department for Education is currently working with BT to expand this offer to allow more children to access the internet through their network of BT wifi hotspots.</p><p><strong><p><p><p></strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 71732 71734 question first answered 17/07/2020 14:22:44 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1222677

registered interest
date	09/07/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Internet: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Education and (b) telecommunication companies on reducing the cost of mobile data for families and children accessing online education resources, such as the Oak Academy.
tabling member constituency	Harlow
tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
uin	71734
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/07/2020 answer text <p>It is essential that all children, regardless of their family circumstances, have the opportunity to continue to access high quality education throughout the COVID19 pandemic. Let me reassure you that the Government recognises the importance of both ensuring broadband connectivity and supporting children’s access to online learning during this time. My Department is working closely with the Department for Education to ensure vulnerable children have access to online educational resources. Furthermore my Department has previously agreed measures with telecoms providers to support vulnerable consumers more generally. These measures will also indirectly benefit children’s education. For example, as part of the voluntary commitments, the major telecoms providers committed to remove all data allowance caps on all current fixed broadband services.</p><p>The Department for Education has worked with major telecoms companies to zero rate (otherwise known as whitelisting) the Hungry Little Minds and EdenRed school meal voucher website. Zero-rating is a helpful way to provide families with support to access critical resources where the majority of content is held on one website. Most educational resources including Oak Academy, however, use content that is hosted elsewhere (such as on Youtube or Vimeo) meaning that they will still incur data charges.</p><p>The Department for Education is therefore working with the major telecommunications companies to improve internet connectivity for disadvantaged and vulnerable families more widely than selected websites. For families who rely on a mobile internet connection, mobile network operators are working to provide access to free additional data offering them more flexibility to access the resources that they need the most. The Department for Education has also delivered or dispatched over 200,000 laptops and tablets and over 47,000 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts who are best placed to prioritise children and young people who need devices.</p><p>The Department for Education has also launched a service to provide children and young people free access to BT wifi hotspots. 10,000 families will initially be able to access the scheme. This offer is currently being piloted and will be rolled out across England in the coming months. The Department for Education is currently working with BT to expand this offer to allow more children to access the internet through their network of BT wifi hotspots.</p><p><strong><p><p><p></strong></p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 71732 71733 question first answered 17/07/2020 14:22:44 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon