Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they plan to have with manufacturers from the heating, refrigeration and air conditioning industries on the use of F gases.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As part of our review so far, we have engaged extensively with industry to gain valuable input on the use of F-gases and their alternatives. Any consultation on proposals for change will allow sufficient time for industry to share views on aspects such as the safety of those alternatives.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their proposed timescale for the consultation and review of F gas regulation.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are in the process of reviewing the GB F-gas Regulation and intend to consult on proposed changes in due course.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the F gas consultation allows industry sufficient time to carry out safety checks on alternative gases.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As part of our review so far, we have engaged extensively with industry to gain valuable input on the use of F-gases and their alternatives. Any consultation on proposals for change will allow sufficient time for industry to share views on aspects such as the safety of those alternatives.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of products where there are no viable alternatives to using F gases.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are undertaking a review of the F-gas Regulation. Any resulting proposals for change will be based on an assessment of the viability of alternative gases to determine the extent to which we can deliver further F-gas use and emissions reductions.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the EU’s F gas regulation review; and whether they intend to keep alignment with the EU.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will shortly be providing the House of Lords European Affairs Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland with an updated assessment of the EU’s F-gas changes.
F-gas policy is a key contributor to mitigating climate change, and we are reviewing our legislation to support delivery of our ambitious, domestic Net Zero agenda. Any changes we might propose will be focused on the needs and opportunities specific to the GB market.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why funding is only available for the external provision of the Early Career Framework for teachers and not school-based provision.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All state funded schools offering statutory induction receive funding to deliver the early career framework (ECF) reforms. In addition to their core funding to cover the cost of time off timetable for early career teachers (ECTs) in year one of induction, schools also receive funding which covers 5% off timetable for ECTs in year two of induction, for induction activities including ECF based training and mentor sessions. This funding also covers a dedicated mentor for each ECT, based on 20 hours of mentoring in year two of induction.
The department wants all ECTs to have access to high-quality ECF based training, so schools can choose to use a Department for Education funded training provider. The content of the providers’ programmes has been quality assured by the department and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The quality of delivery of the programmes is also quality assured separately through Ofsted inspection. If a state funded school uses a Department for Education funded training provider, the department funds the training delivered to ECTs and their mentors by the provider, and provides additional funding to backfill the mentor time spent undertaking funded provider-led training, meaning that there is no cost for these schools.
To ensure that schools have choice and flexibility, they have the option of delivering their own ECF based training programme. For schools who choose this approach, they can choose to use the department’s accredited materials and resources, which have been independently assessed by the EEF to ensure their fidelity to the ECF. These materials are freely available to schools via the department’s ‘Manage training for early career teachers’ service, available at: https://manage-training-for-early-career-teachers.education.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Early Career Framework for teachers.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published interim results as part of the independent evaluation of the national roll-out of the Early Career Framework (ECF) in May 2022, and an annual summary report in March 2023. The findings of these evaluations have been broadly positive. The ongoing Core Content Framework and ECF Review is taking these findings, along with a wider range of input and evidence, into consideration when working to iterate and further improve the ECF reforms.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why Religious Education is not included in the list of subjects for English Baccalaureate qualification.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s ambition is for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) to be at the heart of each secondary school’s broader curriculum. The EBacc subjects are those considered to provide a sound basis for many degrees and a variety of careers beyond the age of 16. The EBacc was deliberately designed to be limited in size so that pupils could study other subjects, such as Religious Studies, alongside it. There are no plans to amend the composition of the EBacc.
The government recognises the importance of religious education (RE), both to pupils' wider knowledge and to society. RE offers pupils the opportunity to engage with real world issues and to develop their understanding and appreciation of the beliefs and views of others. For this reason, the teaching of RE remains compulsory throughout a pupil's schooling.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why financial incentives for teachers are not offered for teaching additional subjects to support a broad school curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Each year the department reviews the financial incentives it offers to support the recruitment and retention of teachers where there is the greatest need. This ensures the department is providing funding where it is needed the most.
The department offers a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools, including within Education Investment Areas. This supports the supply of teachers in the highest demand subjects and ensures they are placed within the schools and areas that need them the most.
The department also continues to focus initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries and scholarships on English Baccalaureate subjects, particularly those experiencing teacher shortages, to secure as many applicants as possible in subjects where schools are likely to devote the most teaching time.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adapting the Early Career Framework for teachers to take account of the need for diverse skillsets.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Early Career Framework (ECF) provider-led programmes have been designed with an evidence based approach to ensure early career teachers (ECTs) focus on the things that make the most difference to their professional practice, ensuring that every teacher receives a consistently high-quality induction. It is important that the carefully planned structure and sequence of the programmes is followed. However, programmes can and should be contextualised to an individual’s context and role and tailored to an individual's strengths and development needs.
The department has listened to the feedback on the provider-led ECF based induction programmes and is working on making improvements. The department has produced flexibilities guidance for lead providers on how ECTs can be supported to understand and apply the content of the programmes to their context and role. The department knows that there are many schools and mentors who are already managing ECF based training effectively and has invited practitioners to share how they support their ECTs to apply the content of the provider-led ECF based training programmes to their school’s context. The department has shared these examples of good practice with the sector through an online blog.
The department has publicly committed to reviewing the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and ECF alongside each other. As part of this review, the department will continue to review how the ECF is currently delivered, which will facilitate any necessary adjustments and improvements, based on feedback, to improve the experience for ECTs and mentors.