Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to announce the revised formula for allocating the growth and skills levy (formerly the apprenticeship levy), including (1) the total for each year of the spending review period, and (2) the amount to be held back by the Treasury.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners, and support the industrial strategy.
The growth and skills offer is vital in delivering the government’s Plan for Change and achieving its missions of driving growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The department will work through all of its budgets at departmental business planning and set out more detail on the approach to the growth and skills offer in due course.
His Majesty’s Treasury are responsible for the operation of the UK wide apprenticeships levy and for allocating funding to England and the devolved administrations through Spending Review settlements.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to paragraph 4.36 of the Spending Review 2025 (CP 1336), what proportion of the additional £1.2 billion allocated per year by 2028–29 for skills will be (1) part of the growth and skills levy, and (2) drawn down from the skills surcharge levied on employers for bringing in overseas staff.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The skills system is central to achieving economic growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The government is providing £1.2 billion of additional investment per year by 2028/29.
As set out in the Immigration White Paper, the government will increase the Immigration Skills Charge for the first time since its introduction, by 32% to bring the rates in line with inflation.
Further details on how skills funding will be allocated in future years will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money was raised by the skills levy on employers recruiting from overseas in the financial year 2024–25; and what allocation was made from this money to (1) apprenticeships, (2) further education, and (3) other areas.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department does not receive a hypothecated budget for the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC). Receipts from the ISC are paid to His Majesty’s Exchequer. The amount raised each year can be found in the Home Office's annual report and accounts.
The government will increase the ISC for the first time since its introduction, raising it by 32% to bring the ISC rates in line with inflation and will use income generated from the increased ISC, as set out in the Immigration White Paper, to support upskilling of the domestic workforce, including in priority sectors, reducing reliance on overseas labour.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to announce the full membership of the board of Skills England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government announced the executive and non-executive leadership team of Skills England on 11 February. The chair of the board is Phil Smith, former chief executive officer (CEO) of Cisco UK and Ireland, and the vice chair is Sir David Bell, vice chancellor of the University of Sunderland. Sarah Maclean and Tessa Griffiths jointly serve as CEOs of Skills England, and Gemma Marsh is deputy CEO.
The government has also been recruiting additional non-executive board members for Skills England. The department received a large number of high-calibre applicants, who have undergone a rigorous selection process to ensure a diverse Board with the necessary skills and experience to support and challenge Skills England in its vital work. The full membership of the Board will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review: interim report, published on 18 March, what plans they have to revisit guidance to allow awarding bodies time to submit new versions of post-16 diploma-size qualifications that overlap with Cycle 1 T Level subjects for approval alongside T Levels routes.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government considered which qualifications are needed alongside T Levels and A levels in its rapid review of qualifications reform at the end of last year and retained funding for 157 qualifications that were previously due to have funding removed following that review. The government will retain funding for these qualifications until we consider that they are no longer needed. The government also made clear that we will not allow for other types of large qualifications in T Level areas. This is because T Levels are high quality qualifications and should be the qualification of choice for those who wish to study a large qualification in T Level areas.
Alongside A levels and T Levels, learners can study alternative level 3 qualifications. These currently include applied general qualifications and technical and vocational qualifications, which are being reformed into Alternative Academic Qualifications and Reformed Technical Qualifications. 74 of these newly reformed level 3 qualifications were approved in May 2024 and will be available to teach from this August, with more to follow in 2026.
The department has also removed the additional requirements to the rules of combination until 2027. This change allows providers greater flexibility to create study programmes that best suit individual learner needs.
Removing the additional requirements on the rules of combination will ensure that we are not pre-empting recommendations from the Curriculum and Assessment Review on curriculum pathways and longer-term qualifications reform.
The department will consider the Review’s recommendations, including on qualification types and sizes, when they are published later this year, and we will update guidance to awarding organisations following our consideration of the Review’s final report.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government which elements of the £600 million investment in construction skills they announced on 23 March have previously been announced or committed to, and which are new and in addition to previous commitments.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced an additional £625 million of funding to support construction skills training, with the detail set out in the Spring Statement 2025. This additional support had not previously been announced or committed. This is expected to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled construction workers this Parliament.
The measures will support the expansion of existing skills programmes, including Skills Bootcamps and apprenticeships, as well as help deliver new initiatives such as establishing ten Technical Excellence Colleges specialised in construction in every region in England.
Additional detail on these measures is available from page 29 of the Spring Statement 2025 document, which is attached and can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e3ecff55239fa04d411fc3/E03274109_HMT_Spring_Statement_Mar_25_Text_PRINT_.pdf.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Armed Forces Covenant Legal Duty as it applies to schools; and whether they plan to update the school admissions code (1) to give priority to children of Service families, and (2) to provide for siblings, where appropriate, to attend the same school.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government has policies in place to support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duty to give due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant. This includes in specific areas of education provision, including school admissions.
The school admissions code already contains a number of measures to support service children in relation to school admissions.
These measures include requiring admission authorities to allocate school places in advance of a service family moving into the area, where a place is available, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a re-location date. Children of UK service personnel can also be admitted as exceptions to the infant class size limit if they move outside the normal admission round.
Furthermore, admission authorities are able to give priority in their oversubscription criteria to children in receipt of the Service Pupil Premium, and publicly funded boarding schools must give service children who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding fees priority after looked after and previously looked after children.
Admission authorities are already able to give priority to siblings in their admissions criteria where they feel that is appropriate to their local circumstances, although they are not required to do so.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, this government is taking further steps to ensure a more robust safety net for children who struggle to secure a school place via the usual in-year admissions processes, by giving local authorities the levers they need to secure places for children more quickly and efficiently, when the usual in-year admissions processes fall short.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to provide military families with priority for school admissions when parents are transferred from one place to another.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The government has policies in place to support schools and local authorities to fulfil their duty to give due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant. This includes in specific areas of education provision, including school admissions.
The school admissions code already contains a number of measures to support service children in relation to school admissions.
These measures include requiring admission authorities to allocate school places in advance of a service family moving into the area, where a place is available, provided the application is accompanied by an official letter that declares a re-location date. Children of UK service personnel can also be admitted as exceptions to the infant class size limit if they move outside the normal admission round.
Furthermore, admission authorities are able to give priority in their oversubscription criteria to children in receipt of the Service Pupil Premium, and publicly funded boarding schools must give service children who qualify for Ministry of Defence financial assistance with the cost of boarding fees priority after looked after and previously looked after children.
Admission authorities are already able to give priority to siblings in their admissions criteria where they feel that is appropriate to their local circumstances, although they are not required to do so.
Through the Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, this government is taking further steps to ensure a more robust safety net for children who struggle to secure a school place via the usual in-year admissions processes, by giving local authorities the levers they need to secure places for children more quickly and efficiently, when the usual in-year admissions processes fall short.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have calculated how many full and part-time staff will be required to continue the current work of Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education following the transfer of responsibilities to the Department under the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
The department has calculated that the number of staff transferring from Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) into Skills England will ensure core IfATE functions continue. These roles will make up a portion of the total workforce of Skills England. There will be additional staff from the department supporting on Skills England’s broader remit of work.
This continuity in resource levels will support qualification and apprenticeships development, including working with employers, to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of service. A full list of IfATE staff can be found here: https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/c4b0d784-19a0-4027-84fd-4721cb83281f/organogram-of-staff-roles-and-salaries-for-ifate-september-2024.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the annual breakdown, beginning with the academic year 2020–21, of the number of secondary school trainee teachers aged 40 and over working in (1) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and (2) non-STEM, subjects who began training but were not working as a qualified teacher in a state school two years later; and what was total annual cost of training bursaries and scholarships paid to those same trainees.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
In the attachment, table 1 shows the total numbers of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees aged 40 and above with course outcomes for the academic years 2020/21 to 2022/23 and for each secondary subject. The table also shows the number of such trainees who did not go on to teach in a state-funded school within 16 months of the end of the academic year.
Information on the outcomes of trainees in receipt of bursaries and/or scholarships is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
However, postgraduate salaried trainees are ineligible for bursaries and scholarships and the number of undergraduate fee-funded trainees over 40 who are eligible for bursaries is negligible.
In the attachment, table 2 shows, as a proportion of ITT trainees on postgraduate fee-funded ITT routes only, the number that were aged 40 and over and did not go on to teach in a state-funded school within 16 months of the end of the academic year. These proportions are applied to total bursary and scholarship spend, for each academic year and secondary subject. A small minority of trainees are ineligible for a bursary or scholarship, so this assumes that those over 40 who did not teach in a state-funded school within 16 months were as likely to be eligible for a bursary or scholarship as the overall trainee cohort in each year.