Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on iPhones in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education has spent the following amounts on iPhones in each year since 2010:
Year | Costs (£) |
2010 | 0 |
2011 | 1,188 |
2012 | 1,836 |
2013 | 0 |
2014 | 31,038 |
In 2011 and 2012 a total of six iPhones were purchased for staff with accessibility requirements where the standard departmental mobile device (Blackberry) would not meet their needs. There was no requirement to purchase any further devices in 2013.
The significant increase in 2014 was due to the implementation of a new mobile working pilot utilising ‘GOOD’ Technology (a secure IT mobility solution) where iPhones were the preferred device and 57 devices were purchased as part of the pilot. Following an evaluation, the pilot has now been discontinued, and the Department is in discussions with Vodafone regarding the return of these devices and recuperation of costs. The above costs include the purchase of an Apple iPhone device with live SIM card. The models purchased were a combination of iPhone 4, 5 and 5S.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Instant Rewards of what value were given to her Department's officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2013, 3,954 instant rewards were issued to officials of the Department for Education. The total value of such rewards was £132,140, giving an average value of £33.42.
In 2014 to date (4 November), 4,825 instant rewards have been issued. The total value of instant rewards this year has been £200,245, giving an average value of £41.50.
The instant reward scheme is funded from the staff pay bill (not in addition to it). Each year 0.1% of the pay budget is set aside to pay for instant reward vouchers and any associated tax and National Insurance.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions her Department has had requests for appointments by exception to the Senior Civil Service turned down by the Civil Service Commission since 2010; and who was appointed for each such post.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Since 2010, the Civil Service Commission has not turned down any requests made by the Department for Education to appoint a Senior Civil Servant by exception.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on legal fees over prevention of release of information requested by Freedom of Information requests since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families on 21 July 2014 to Question 206217.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Freedom of Information requests her Department has declined to answer in full since 2010.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Quarterly and annual statistics on Freedom of Information requests received by the Department for Education, including the number of requests in which all requested information was released in full, is set out in the table below. This information is published online at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics
Year | Requests received | Resolvable requests [1] | Resolvable requests granted in full |
2010 | 880 | 733 | 549 (75%) |
2011 | 1,149 | 937 | 590 (63%) |
2012 | 1,309 | 1,038 | 686 (66%) |
2013 | 1,759 | 1,354 | 931 (69%) |
2014 (Q1 and Q2) | 961 | 710 | 399 (56%) |
[1] Resolvable – requests in which it was possible to give a substantive decision on whether to release the information being sought; for example, excluding requests where the information sought was not held or further clarification was necessary.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions her Department has made appointments by exception since 2010; and who was appointed for each such post.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Since 1 April 2010, the Department for Education has made 1,722 appointments by exception. The numbers of appointments are set out in the table below:
Financial Year
| Exceptions |
2010/11 | 32 |
2011/12 | 216 |
2012/13 | 1353 |
2013/14 | 62 |
1/04/14 to date | 59 |
Of these exceptions, 1,565 were the result of a programme to reform the Department’s Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) which gave staff the right of transfer into the Department and its new Executive Agencies.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of the core target group of 16 to 19 year olds have (a) applied for and (b) been accepted onto a traineeship to date.
Answered by Nick Boles
Only young people who meet the eligibility criteria set out in the Traineeships Framework for Delivery can take up a traineeship. For 2013/14, the core target group for traineeships are young people aged 16-23 who:
1. are not currently in a job and have little work experience, but who are focused on work or the prospect of it;
2. are 16-19 and qualified below Level 3 or 19-23 and have not yet achieved a full Level 2; and whom
3. providers and employers believe have a reasonable chance of being ready for employment or an apprenticeship within six months of engaging in a traineeship.
The Department for Education does not collect information centrally on traineeship applications in the same way that the Department does not collect data on applications for other pre-employment training provision.
In June we published data showing that there were 7,400 traineeships starting between August 2013 and April 2014 – the first nine months of the programme. We do not yet have reliable data to break this down by age-range and we do not collect information on the number of unsuccessful applications.
Further information on traineeships data is published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-other-statistics-and-research
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many 16 to 19 year olds are not undertaking a study programme.
Answered by Edward Timpson
At the end of 2013, 1,094,000 young people aged 16-18 were studying on full-time study programmes in state-funded post-16 institutions (excluding higher education and independent schools). Of the remainder, 494,000 were in full-time education in independent schools, higher education, or part-time education; 220,000 were in other training or employment; and 148,000 were not in education, training or employment (NEET).
It is up to schools, colleges and training providers to tailor study programmes to meet the career aspirations of students based on their prior attainment. The principal components of a 16-19 study programme include typically a substantial qualification (such as one or more A levels or Tech Levels), work experience and other non-qualification activity. English and maths also feature for students who failed to achieve an A*-C GCSE in maths and English by age 16.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academy brokers there are; and how much her Department has spent on academy brokers in the last financial year.
Answered by Edward Timpson
There are currently 34 academy brokers. The Department for Education spent £3,031,794.39 on academy brokers in 2013-14.
Asked by: Lord Walney (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department has spent on legal costs on appealing decision notices served by the Information Commissioner since 2010.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Legal costs on appealing decision notices served by the Information Commissioner are not held centrally by the Department for Education, and the cost of determining these over the past five years would exceed the disproportionate limit.