Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of data published by the Department for Education on 13 October showing that the proportion of 16- and 17-year olds in England not participating in education and training, as required by the Education and Skills Act 2008, stood at June 2016 at 9.1 per cent, what is the full breakdown of the activities of this group of 16- and 17-year olds; and what steps they are taking to reduce the proportion of those in the age group who are failing to participate.
Answered by Lord Nash
The figures published in June 2016 showed estimates of activities of young people as at the end of 2015. These showed that 9.1% of young people at age 16/17 were not in education or work-based learning (apprenticeships) at the end of 2015. The breakdown of the activities recorded for this group are as follows (with corresponding figures from end 2010 for comparison):
| 2010 | 2015 |
Employer Funded Training | 1.9% | 2.5% |
Other Education and Training* | 0.7% | 0.6% |
Not in any education or training - in employment | 2.8% | 2.0% |
Not in any education, employment or training (NEET) | 6.7% | 3.9% |
All not in education or work based learning | 12.0% | 9.1% |
*Wholly privately funded training not picked in the administrative data collections is included under other education and training (OET) which is estimated using the Labour Force Survey
The government is determined to do more to encourage young people to participate in education and training and that is why we are investing around £7 billion in 2016-17 to fund education and training places for 16 to 19 year-olds.
Under Raising the Participation Age (RPA), all young people are required to continue in education or training until at least their 18th birthday. The Department for Education works closely with local authorities, which have a duty to track and support young people to participate.
In addition to this duty, pathfinders to test Jobcentre Plus support for young people in schools have started and will be rolled out across England by March 2017. Improvements to careers education and guidance are also underway with £90m to be invested over this Parliament – including £20m to increase the number of mentors to support those young people who most need it. Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund projects are helping to improve the prospects of 9,600 young people, and an additional £105m was announced in the Spending Review to scale up Social Impact Bonds over the Parliament, to help deal with issues including youth unemployment.
These initiatives, alongside broader work including: curriculum; qualifications and technical education reform; apprenticeships expansion and reform; traineeships; and the 16-19 Bursary Fund, continue to support young people by ensuring that they are able to gain the skills and qualifications they need for their future employment or continuing education and by removing barriers to participation.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that deafblind people and those with complex needs are not prevented from securing meaningful employment due to low expectations of the professionals who are charged with supporting them into work.
Answered by Lord Freud
In the last three years, the number of disabled people in work has increased by almost half a million. But we recognise that the gap between the employment rates of disabled people and non-disabled people remains too large. That is why we are committed to halving it.
We will soon publish a Green Paper on work and health.
All Stakeholders have an important part to play in making the transformative changes required so that everyone has the chance to go as far as their talents will take them, including people who are deafblind and those with complex needs.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the latest estimate of how many 17-year-olds in England are failing to meet the duty to participate in education and training.
Answered by Lord Nash
The latest National Statistics relating to participation in education and training by 16–18 year olds relate to the end of 2014, before the point at which the duty to participate in education or training was extended to 17 year olds (in June 2015). We therefore do not currently hold National Statistics which estimate how many 17 year olds in England are failing to meet the duty to participate in education and training. Figures for the end of 2015, which will include an approximation for those failing to meet the duty, will be published on 30 June 2016.
Local authorities collect their own data on young people’s participation, including data on those that meet the duty to participate. Figures relating to December 2015 for young people aged 16 or 17 are published on GOV.UK and are attached.
However, due to incomplete coverage of young people outside the state funded school system and differing approaches in local authorities, this does not provide an accurate national estimate.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) 14-year-olds, and (2) 15-year-olds, are enrolled full-time at (a) general further education colleges, and (b) university technology colleges, for the latest year for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord Nash
Based on an analysis of the 2015/16 Individualised Learner Record returns made by colleges, there were 631 14-year-old and 511 15-year-old full time students on approved 14-16 direct enrolment programmes studying high-quality vocational qualifications alongside general qualifications including English and mathematics within the Key Stage 4 curriculum.
In addition, there were 154 14-year-old and 613 15-year-old full time students predominantly studying Level 3 qualifications in further education colleges.
According to data from the January 2015 school census, there were 1,994 14-year-old and 1,319 15-year-old full time students enrolled at university technical colleges in England.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many 18 to 21 year-olds in (1) England, and (2) Greater London, claimed (a) Jobseekers' Allowance, and (b) Employment and Support Allowance, broken down by those in the work-related activity group, and those not.
Answered by Lord Freud
Please see table below for requested information;
Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) | Total | Age Group |
Caseload (Thousands) | ||
Total | 634.61 | 124.73 |
London | 105.5 | 17.84 |
Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) | Total | Age Group | Work Related Activity Group |
Caseload (Thousands) | |||
Total | 2,355.16 | 187.57 | 465.86 |
London | 289.65 | 17.77 | 47.11 |
Notes:
Data is not available for age group 18-21 years, therefore data provided covers 18-24 years.
The Management Information cannot identify the claimants who fall under the requested age range and those which are in the work related activity group.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the average speeds of traffic flows recorded in central London for the years 2008 to 2015 inclusive.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The average speeds are as set out in the table below. This information is based on material published on the Transport for London website.
Average traffic speeds (miles per hour) by functional sector of London. Working weekdays, by time period. TfL’s ‘network of interest’.
Area and time period | 2007 speed (mph) | 2008 speed (mph) | 2009 speed (mph) | 2010 speed (mph) | 2011 speed (mph) | 2012 speed (mph) | 2013 speed (mph) | 2014 speed (mph) | 2015 speed (mph) first 6 months only |
Central am peak | 9.4 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 8.3 |
Central inter-peak | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.8 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 7.3 |
Central pm peak | 9 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 8.6 | 8.3 | 7.8 |
Inner am peak | 12.6 | 12.4 | 12.9 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 12.6 | 12.4 | 11.9 | 11.1 |
Inner inter-peak | 13.1 | 13 | 13.3 | 13.4 | 13.3 | 13.2 | 13.2 | 12.8 | 12.2 |
Inner PM peak | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 11.5 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 10.6 | 10.3 |
Outer am peak | 19.3 | 19.6 | 20.1 | 20 | 20.1 | 19.9 | 19.5 | 18.6 | 17.7 |
Outer inter-peak | 21.3 | 21.4 | 21.4 | 21.6 | 21.6 | 21.7 | 21.8 | 21.1 | 21 |
Outer pm peak | 18.3 | 18.6 | 18.3 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 18.1 | 17.1 | 16.9 |
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of FTSE 100 companies whose annual accounts have been qualified by their auditors in the last 10 financial years.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
No such assessment has been made by the Department. However this information is part of the audit report that is filed by all relevant UK companies at Companies House. We are aware that a number of commercial information providers are able to use Companies House data to derive information of this nature. One example of such a provider is the Bureau Van Dijk Fame Database.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, for the latest year for which figures relating to 18 to 21 year-olds in England, (1) how many claimed Jobseeker's Allowance (a) in the first six months of the year, and (b) in total; (2) how many claimed Employment and Support Allowance, and of those, what proportion became part of the work-related activity group; and (3) how many entered the Work Programme.
Answered by Lord Freud
The information requested regarding part (1), how many claimed Jobseeker's Allowance (a) in the first six months of the year, and (b) in total, is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
There were 38,000 (rounded to the nearest thousand) claims made to ESA by 18-21 year-olds in England during the business year 2013-14, of whom 2,000 (6%) were assigned to the work-related activity group.
Between April 2014 and March 2015 there were 24,660 18 to 21 year-olds, in England, referred to the Work Programme. Please note this is rounded to the nearest ten and referrals are 'net' referrals which do not include rejections, cancellations or referrals to ESA information sessions.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much of the funding provided by the Skills Funding Agency is allocated to (1) learner support and (2) skills infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The amount of funding allocated to the Skills Funding Agency is set out in the Skills Funding letter attached here .The letter sets out the funding priorities and available budget for the further education (FE) and skills sector for the 2015 to 2016 financial year. The letter confirms that £172.8m has been allocated for Learning Support and £23.1m for Skills Infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Clifton (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government for the year 2013–14 how many young people aged 18, 19, 20 and 21 started apprenticeships; and for each age cohort how many did so at level 2, level 3, level 4 and above.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Table 1 shows the number of apprenticeships starts for those aged 18, 19, 20 and 21 for each Level and in total in 2013/14.
Table 1: Apprenticeship Starts by Age and Level, 2013/14
Age | Intermediate Level Apprenticeship (Level 2) | Advanced Level Apprenticeship (Level 3) | Higher Apprenticeship (Level 4+) | Total |
18 | 34,100 | 20,200 | 700 | 55,100 |
19 | 24,400 | 15,300 | 800 | 40,500 |
20 | 20,000 | 12,600 | 600 | 33,200 |
21 | 16,800 | 10,000 | 400 | 27,200 |
Notes:
1) The source is the Individualised Learner Record.
2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 100.