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1357177

registered interest
date	21/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	BTEC Qualifications
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 that students can continue to study BTEC qualifications in the future.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	52619
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2021 answer text <p>Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that we close the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels and are strengthening the routes to progress into skilled employment or further study with high quality qualifications that are fit for the future. T Levels are challenging qualifications developed with 250 leading employers. They include a meaningful nine-week industry placement and will equip more young people with the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to access skilled employment or further training.</p><p>We set out the qualifications we intend to fund alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3 in July 2021. We are clear that any qualifications that are funded to be taken alongside or instead of A levels or T Levels must be high quality and lead to good outcomes. We will fund level 3 BTECs and/or other Applied General or similar qualifications where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide. These must meet new quality criteria to be approved for funding.</p><p>We have been clear that we expect the changes to be generally positive as students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels. This will put students in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 52620 question first answered 29/09/2021 15:00:03 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1357178

registered interest
date	21/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Vocational Education: Qualifications
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 effect on students of removing funding for certain BTEC qualifications.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Riverside
tabling member printed	Kim Johnson
uin	52620
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/09/2021 answer text <p>Employers are facing a skills shortage that we must act to address. It is vital in a fast moving and high-tech economy that we close the gap between what people study and the needs of employers. This is why we are introducing over 20 T Levels and are strengthening the routes to progress into skilled employment or further study with high quality qualifications that are fit for the future. T Levels are challenging qualifications developed with 250 leading employers. They include a meaningful nine-week industry placement and will equip more young people with the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to access skilled employment or further training.</p><p>We set out the qualifications we intend to fund alongside A levels and T Levels at level 3 in July 2021. We are clear that any qualifications that are funded to be taken alongside or instead of A levels or T Levels must be high quality and lead to good outcomes. We will fund level 3 BTECs and/or other Applied General or similar qualifications where there is a clear need for skills and knowledge that T Levels and A levels cannot provide. These must meet new quality criteria to be approved for funding.</p><p>We have been clear that we expect the changes to be generally positive as students will have access to higher quality qualifications in the future, including new T Levels. This will put students in a stronger position to progress onto further study or skilled employment.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart grouped question UIN 52619 question first answered 29/09/2021 15:00:03 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4824 label Biography information for Kim Johnson

1356857

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Religion
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 ensure that pupils in Bolton South East constituency have access to a secular or community-ethos school.
tabling member constituency	Bolton South East
tabling member printed	Yasmin Qureshi
uin	51662
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>The government is committed to offering parents and children a diverse education system consisting of a wide variety of schools and this includes faith schools. Within Bolton South East, 24 of the 47 primary and secondary schools are not designated as faith schools.</p><p>The vast majority of parents are offered a place at a school of their choice. For the Bolton local authority, in 2021, 97.6% of parents received an offer from one of their top three choices of primary school, while 94.4 % received an offer from one of their top three choices of secondary school.</p><p>Faith schools have played an important role in our education system for many years and are popular with parents. They have a strong track record of delivering excellent education and achieving high standards and, on average, perform better than non-faith schools. These schools, like all other schools, play a vital role in promoting integration and supporting pupils to understand different faiths and communities.</p><p>Although faith schools have greater freedom to maintain their religious ethos, they remain subject to the same obligations as other state funded schools to promote community cohesion and integration, and to teach a broad and balanced curriculum.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 23/09/2021 12:29:06 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	3924 label Biography information for Yasmin Qureshi

1356858

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children in Care
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 6 September 2021 to Question 41094 on Children in Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of conducting research into the long-term outcomes for children placed across borders.
tabling member constituency	Denton and Reddish
tabling member printed	Andrew Gwynne
uin	51628
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>The department has not made an assessment in this area. Where possible, local authorities should provide accommodation that is within their local area as moving a child away from their home area is not a decision to be taken lightly. There are clear statutory requirements in place to safeguard young people, and it is the responsibility of the placing local authority and Directors of Children’s Services who must approve all distant placements.</p><p>Statistically, the department collects data on placement type, reason for placement change and three separate pieces of information in relation to the locality of placements. The location data includes:</p><ul><li>information about the distance the child is placed away from their home postcode</li><li>whether the placement is located inside or outside their responsible local authority</li><li>the country of the placement (England, UK or otherwise).</li></ul><p>Figures on placements, distance from the home placement and the location of the placement, inside or outside the council boundary, were published in the underlying data ‘National - children looked after at 31 March by placement type, distance of placement and locality of placement’ of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2019 to 2020’ at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2020" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions/2020</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/09/2021 16:27:53 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1506 label Biography information for Andrew Gwynne

1356861

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education: 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 impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the accessibility of early years services in the North West region.
tabling member constituency	Worsley and Eccles South
tabling member printed	Barbara Keeley
uin	51659
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>High quality, accessible childcare is important in ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life. As of 31 March 2021, 96% of providers on the Ofsted Early Years Register were judged Good or Outstanding, a substantial increase from 74% in 2012. Ofsted are responsible for monitoring the quality of provision.</p><p>The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare through regular attendance data collection and monitoring the open or closed status of providers. We also discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any significant sufficiency or supply issues and we have not seen a significant number of parents unable to secure a childcare place, either this term or since early years settings re-opened fully on 1 June 2020. The department provides support to local authorities with low take up of the entitlements.</p><p>All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education. Take-up of this entitlement is high, with 90% of 3 and 4 year olds registered for a 15 hours per week free early education place in January 2021. Eligible working parents of 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to an additional 15 hours to help them with the additional costs associated with childcare. Households on a low income of under £15,400 (or £16,190 if receiving child tax credits) can qualify for 15 hours free childcare for 2 year olds.</p><p>In addition to free early education entitlements, the government offers Tax-Free Childcare for children from 0 to 11 years old, or up to 16 if disabled. For every £8 parents pay into their Tax-Free Childcare account, the government will pay £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year. For disabled children, the maximum is £4,000 per year. In total, 308,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 364,000 children in June 2021.</p><p>Working parents on a low income may also be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs (for children under 16) through Universal Credit Childcare. This is subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children, payable in arrears.</p><p>As part of the COVID-19 education recovery strategy we are investing £180 million for training for early years staff to support the very youngest children’s learning and development. This includes Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during COVID-19. Two thirds of eligible primary schools have signed up and we estimate 90,000 reception age children will get extra support with their speech and language development. Further detail on the additional training will be made available in due course.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 51582 51660 51661 question first answered 23/09/2021 16:34:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1588 label Biography information for Barbara Keeley

1356862

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education
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 consistency of early years services for children up to five years old across the UK.
tabling member constituency	Worsley and Eccles South
tabling member printed	Barbara Keeley
uin	51660
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>High quality, accessible childcare is important in ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life. As of 31 March 2021, 96% of providers on the Ofsted Early Years Register were judged Good or Outstanding, a substantial increase from 74% in 2012. Ofsted are responsible for monitoring the quality of provision.</p><p>The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare through regular attendance data collection and monitoring the open or closed status of providers. We also discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any significant sufficiency or supply issues and we have not seen a significant number of parents unable to secure a childcare place, either this term or since early years settings re-opened fully on 1 June 2020. The department provides support to local authorities with low take up of the entitlements.</p><p>All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education. Take-up of this entitlement is high, with 90% of 3 and 4 year olds registered for a 15 hours per week free early education place in January 2021. Eligible working parents of 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to an additional 15 hours to help them with the additional costs associated with childcare. Households on a low income of under £15,400 (or £16,190 if receiving child tax credits) can qualify for 15 hours free childcare for 2 year olds.</p><p>In addition to free early education entitlements, the government offers Tax-Free Childcare for children from 0 to 11 years old, or up to 16 if disabled. For every £8 parents pay into their Tax-Free Childcare account, the government will pay £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year. For disabled children, the maximum is £4,000 per year. In total, 308,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 364,000 children in June 2021.</p><p>Working parents on a low income may also be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs (for children under 16) through Universal Credit Childcare. This is subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children, payable in arrears.</p><p>As part of the COVID-19 education recovery strategy we are investing £180 million for training for early years staff to support the very youngest children’s learning and development. This includes Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during COVID-19. Two thirds of eligible primary schools have signed up and we estimate 90,000 reception age children will get extra support with their speech and language development. Further detail on the additional training will be made available in due course.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 51582 51659 51661 question first answered 23/09/2021 16:34:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1588 label Biography information for Barbara Keeley

1356864

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pre-school Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to promote and improve access to early years services.
tabling member constituency	Worsley and Eccles South
tabling member printed	Barbara Keeley
uin	51661
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>High quality, accessible childcare is important in ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life. As of 31 March 2021, 96% of providers on the Ofsted Early Years Register were judged Good or Outstanding, a substantial increase from 74% in 2012. Ofsted are responsible for monitoring the quality of provision.</p><p>The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare through regular attendance data collection and monitoring the open or closed status of providers. We also discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any significant sufficiency or supply issues and we have not seen a significant number of parents unable to secure a childcare place, either this term or since early years settings re-opened fully on 1 June 2020. The department provides support to local authorities with low take up of the entitlements.</p><p>All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education. Take-up of this entitlement is high, with 90% of 3 and 4 year olds registered for a 15 hours per week free early education place in January 2021. Eligible working parents of 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to an additional 15 hours to help them with the additional costs associated with childcare. Households on a low income of under £15,400 (or £16,190 if receiving child tax credits) can qualify for 15 hours free childcare for 2 year olds.</p><p>In addition to free early education entitlements, the government offers Tax-Free Childcare for children from 0 to 11 years old, or up to 16 if disabled. For every £8 parents pay into their Tax-Free Childcare account, the government will pay £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year. For disabled children, the maximum is £4,000 per year. In total, 308,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 364,000 children in June 2021.</p><p>Working parents on a low income may also be eligible for help with up to 85% of their childcare costs (for children under 16) through Universal Credit Childcare. This is subject to a monthly limit of £646 for one child or £1108 for two or more children, payable in arrears.</p><p>As part of the COVID-19 education recovery strategy we are investing £180 million for training for early years staff to support the very youngest children’s learning and development. This includes Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most during COVID-19. Two thirds of eligible primary schools have signed up and we estimate 90,000 reception age children will get extra support with their speech and language development. Further detail on the additional training will be made available in due course.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince grouped question UIN 51582 51659 51660 question first answered 23/09/2021 16:34:43 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1588 label Biography information for Barbara Keeley

1356882

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Educational, Health Care Plans have been sought in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021 in (i) Bexley Borough, (ii) Greater London and (iii) England.
tabling member constituency	Bexleyheath and Crayford
tabling member printed	Sir David Evennett
uin	51597
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/09/2021 answer text <p>The initial requests for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans relating to 2019 and 2020 are published at the following link: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1ff67fe5-249c-4a8e-b2a1-a172c1ae0b23" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/1ff67fe5-249c-4a8e-b2a1-a172c1ae0b23</a>.</p><p>The department does not yet hold information on the number of initial requests for EHC plans in 2021, but this will be published in May 2022 at the following link: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans</a>.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 28/09/2021 16:52:33 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	1198 label Biography information for Sir David Evennett

1356883

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Lifelong Education
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 promote lifelong learning.
tabling member constituency	Bexleyheath and Crayford
tabling member printed	Sir David Evennett
uin	51598
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2021 answer text <p>The government is investing £2.5 billion in the National Skills Fund in England.</p><p>Since 1 April 2021, the government is supporting adults who do not hold A level equivalent or higher qualifications to access over 400 funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. This offer is a long-term commitment, backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one.</p><p>Complementing this support for adults, Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks to give people the opportunity to build up sector specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. The department is expanding the Skills Bootcamp programme across the country during 2021/22 financial year, with £43 million from the National Skills Fund. There will be digital Skills Bootcamps available in each English region and a wide coverage of technical Skills Bootcamps. We are also delivering Skills Bootcamps in retrofit construction skills to support the green industrial revolution.</p><p>From 2025, the department will introduce a Lifelong Loan Entitlement equivalent to 4 years of post-18 education. People will be supported to study throughout their life, with the opportunity to train, retrain and upskill as needed in response to changing skills needs and employment patterns. It will help transform post-18 study, delivering greater parity between further and higher education.</p><p>The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), investing £1.34 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills required for work, apprenticeships or further learning.</p> answering member constituency Chippenham answering member printed Michelle Donelan question first answered 30/09/2021 16:04:16 answering member 4530 label Biography information for Michelle Donelan
tabling member	1198 label Biography information for Sir David Evennett

1356925

registered interest
date	20/09/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Food Poverty
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 impact of child hunger on levels of lost learning.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	51580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/09/2021 answer text <p>We recognise that extended school and college restrictions have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s education and we are committed to helping pupils catch up as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>The department commissioned Renaissance Learning to provide a baseline assessment of lost learning for pupils in schools in England and monitor progress over the course of the 2020/21 academic year. The latest interim findings from this research were published on 4 June: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2021-academic-year-interim-report" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2021-academic-year-interim-report</a>.</p><p>Since June 2020, we have announced more than £3 billion to support education recovery, including over £950 million flexible funding to schools and £1.5 billion for a national tutoring revolution. This will have a material impact in closing gaps that have emerged.</p><p>Recovery programmes have been designed to allow early years, school, and college leaders the flexibility to support those pupils most in need. This includes the most disadvantaged and will expand our reforms in two areas where the evidence is clear that our investment will have a significant impact for disadvantaged children - high quality tutoring and great teaching.</p><p>We have provided around £450 million worth of food vouchers to families whilst schools were largely closed. Now schools are open again, school food provision has returned to typical delivery arrangements, with meals being provided free of charge to eligible pupils at school. If pupils who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals are required to stay at home due to COVID-19, schools should continue to work with their school catering team or food provider to offer a good quality lunch parcel.</p><p>Throughout 2021 we are investing up to £220 million in our holiday activities and food programme. Taking place in schools and community venues across the country, delivery began at Easter, has run across the summer and will run in the Christmas holidays. It supports disadvantaged pupils and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things and supporting socialisation and well-being. We are also further investing with £24 million in the National Breakfast Club programme, providing breakfast clubs in schools in disadvantaged areas.</p><p>Beyond this, the Department for Work and Pension has provided £429 million through the Covid Local Support Grant. This is being run by local authorities in England to support the hardest hit families and individuals with food and essential utility costs.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 23/09/2021 16:20:23 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms