Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of construction skills shortages on the current rates of house building and infrastructure development.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

To meet the Government’s commitment to deliver 1.5 million homes over this Parliament, alongside net zero and housing quality objectives, we will need to expand and upskill the construction workforce. We are working with the construction industry to ensure we have the workforce necessary to meet our housebuilding ambitions through the delivery of sufficient high-quality training opportunities which will build a diverse workforce that is fit for the future.

Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker how many members of the House of Lords who have been members for more than a year have not made an oral contribution in the Chamber or in Grand Committee since 1 January 2020.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

A total of 53 current members of the House of Lords who on 13 September 2024 had been members for more than a year did not have an oral contribution recorded in Hansard in the Chamber or in Grand Committee during the period 1 January 2020 to 13 September 2024. Of the 53, 26 were on leave of absence or subject to statutory disqualification for some or all of the specified period. Oath-taking has not been counted as an oral contribution for the purposes of this answer, and membership is dated from the first issue of a writ of summons.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many 14–18 year-olds received training in construction skills in England in the academic year 2023–24.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

Provisional in-year data on further education and skills in England reported for the academic year 2023/24 shows 134,600 aim (course) enrolments in Construction, Planning and the Built Environment for learners aged under 19. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/further-education-and-skills. This includes provision returned via the Individualised Learner Record administrative data only. Any provision within schools reported solely in the School Census data is not included in this figure.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England (1) never attend school, and (2) do not regularly attend school.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

The department collects data on children missing education from local authorities on a voluntary basis. This includes compulsory school aged children not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education. The latest figures are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education. In autumn 2023/24, there were an estimated 33,000 children missing education, which includes adjustments made for non-response and is based on a figure of 30,400 reported by 94% of local authorities.

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will legislate for local authority registers of children not in school. This will include a duty on parents to provide the necessary information for these registers if their child is eligible, which would improve the accuracy of data and ensure that fewer children slip under the radar when they are not in school.

Pupil absence is collected in the school census. The latest figures are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

The department publishes figures on the number of pupils who are persistently absent, which means missing 10% or more of possible sessions, and severely absent, which means missing 50% or more of possible sessions. In autumn 2023/24, 19.4% of pupil enrolments were persistently absent (1.4 million pupil enrolments) and 2.0% of pupil enrolments were severely absent (142,000 pupil enrolments).

It should be noted that ‘regular attendance’ is defined as having no absence, apart from absence due to attendance at a dual-registration or approved educational activity. This information is not readily available.

School level information also forms part of the pupil absence publication. Absence rates for all schools in England in autumn 2023/24 is attached. The data requested is available in the attached table.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government which are the 10 schools in England with the lowest rates of pupil attendance.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)

The department collects data on children missing education from local authorities on a voluntary basis. This includes compulsory school aged children not registered at school or otherwise receiving suitable education. The latest figures are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education. In autumn 2023/24, there were an estimated 33,000 children missing education, which includes adjustments made for non-response and is based on a figure of 30,400 reported by 94% of local authorities.

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will legislate for local authority registers of children not in school. This will include a duty on parents to provide the necessary information for these registers if their child is eligible, which would improve the accuracy of data and ensure that fewer children slip under the radar when they are not in school.

Pupil absence is collected in the school census. The latest figures are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

The department publishes figures on the number of pupils who are persistently absent, which means missing 10% or more of possible sessions, and severely absent, which means missing 50% or more of possible sessions. In autumn 2023/24, 19.4% of pupil enrolments were persistently absent (1.4 million pupil enrolments) and 2.0% of pupil enrolments were severely absent (142,000 pupil enrolments).

It should be noted that ‘regular attendance’ is defined as having no absence, apart from absence due to attendance at a dual-registration or approved educational activity. This information is not readily available.

School level information also forms part of the pupil absence publication. Absence rates for all schools in England in autumn 2023/24 is attached. The data requested is available in the attached table.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current level of national shortage of skilled (1) bricklayers, (2) roofers, (3) plasterers, (4) carpenters, and (5) electricians.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government is working with industry to increase the capacity of skilled workers, including those in the trade professions, to deliver its infrastructure, housing and wider built environment objectives. It is essential that all construction trades working within the built environment have the right level of skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours, as required by the Building Safety Act.

The Government has already announced the introduction of Skills England which will be crucial to providing high quality training to the next generation of construction workers to deliver the built environment we need.

We do not currently have the specific and accurate information on shortages. The Department for Business and Trade is working across Government to understand the full impacts on shortages for the construction sector and the built environment and infrastructure commitments that the Government has set out.

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