Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many businesses support apprenticeship schemes in Sefton Central constituency.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department does not hold the requested data.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices are employed in businesses in Sefton Central constituency.
Answered by Robert Halfon
In the 2020/21 academic year, there were 510 apprenticeship starts in Sefton Central constituency. Data for the full 2021/22 academic year is not yet available, but partial year data shows that between August 2021 and April 2022, 460 apprenticeship starts were reported. These statistics are based on the home postcode of the learner. The department does not publish based on business location.
Further statistics covering apprenticeships can be found in the department’s apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help improve access to apprenticeships in the North.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The department is committed to supporting more employers in all sectors, in all areas of the country, including in the North, to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need. We are also committed to supporting more people to benefit from the high-quality training that apprenticeships offer.
Since August 2018, there has been a total of 422,100 apprenticeship starts across the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber.
To support more employers and learners to access apprenticeships the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 financial year.
The department is also encouraging more flexible training models, such as front-loaded, accelerated and flexi-job apprenticeships, to make it easier for employers to access apprenticeship training in the way that works best for them.
The department continues to make improvements to the apprenticeship levy transfer system to make it easier for large employers to make full use of their levy funds and support starts in their supply chain, sector, or local area. This will also support more employers, including small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to meet local or sectoral skills needs.
We have launched a new SME pathfinder, that will support SMEs in the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber, who face barriers in recruiting apprentices to access the skills training they need to grow.
The department is raising awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships for learners through our ‘Skills for Life’ and ‘Get the Jump’ campaigns. In addition, our new ‘Career Starter Apprenticeships’ campaign showcases apprenticeship standards which offer great opportunities for those looking for their first role after leaving full-time education.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to help increase the number of apprenticeships in the (a) engineering and (b) manufacturing technologies industries.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
Employers in the engineering and manufacturing route have designed 148 apprenticeship standards to meet their skills needs, and there are a further 17 in development.
Apprenticeship starts in the engineering and manufacturing technologies sector increased by 2.2% in the 2020/21 academic year on the previous year, and now make up 14.7% of all apprenticeship starts
The department wants to continue to improve and grow apprenticeships so more employers and individuals can benefit from them, including those within the engineering and manufacturing sectors. We are making apprenticeships more flexible by encouraging the use of more flexible training models including front-loaded training which is being successfully used within the engineering and manufacturing sector. We are also supporting employers to make greater use of their levy and improving the transfers process, so that unspent funds can more easily support apprenticeships in both larger companies and SMEs.
The department is working with the Apprenticeships in Manufacturing (AiM) group, which includes industry partners such as Make UK, Enginuity, and the UK Metals Council, and sector representatives, such as the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), to grow the number of high-quality apprenticeships in the manufacturing sector. The AiM group has developed employer toolkits and is providing information, advice and guidance to young people, schools and influencers to promote apprenticeship opportunities in the sector.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of apprenticeship starts there have been with businesses in England since 2018.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
The table below provides the number of apprenticeship starts in England for the 2017/18 academic year through to the 2021/22 academic year.
Academic Year | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 Provisional |
Apprenticeship Starts | 375,760 | 393,380 | 322,530 | 321,440 | 347,920 |
Please note that the data provided for the 2021/22 academic year remains provisional until the publication of our annual apprenticeships and traineeships statistical release in November 2022. When published, this data will be available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/apprenticeships-and-traineeships-november-2022.
The department’s reforms to apprenticeships have empowered employers to develop more than 650 high-quality apprenticeship standards, helping them to build the skilled workforces they need to grow. Employers make the decision about which apprenticeships are right for them and choose when they take on apprentices to meet the needs of their business.
The department wants to support employers of all sizes to offer more apprenticeship opportunities, so that even more individuals can benefit from high-quality opportunities to earn whilst learning. We are increasing the funding available for apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year and making apprenticeship training more flexible so that apprenticeships are accessible to employers in all sectors.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will (a) publish details of how much funding Lydiate Primary School is due to receive for the purpose of its refurbishment and (b) ensure that that funding is adequate for that purpose.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
On 12 July 2022, Lydiate Primary School was announced as one of 61 schools in round three of the School Rebuilding Programme.
The department will manage and fully fund the project to rebuild or refurbish those buildings at Lydiate Primary School which are in poor condition, subject to the school continuing to meet the programme criteria. We will establish the proposed scope of the project as part of a feasibility study, where we assess the condition of all the existing buildings on site. This will be completed by early 2023, after which we will commence work to procure a contractor.
The final budget for the works will be confirmed when we enter the building contract, before building work commences.
The department also allocates annual condition funding to schools and those responsible for school buildings to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate. For the 2022/23 financial year, Sefton Council has been allocated £2,426,424 to prioritise across its maintained schools.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Sefton Central dated 16 May 2022 regarding Lydiate Primary School, sent via email on 16 May 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
The hon. Member for Sefton Central’s correspondence of 16 May 2022 was responded to by my noble Friend, the Minister for the School System, Baroness Barran on 8 June 2022, reference 2022-0018471, and was issued to the email address: bill.esterson.mp@parliament.uk.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ensure that all looked after children aged 16 and 17 live in accommodation that has carers and provides care.
Answered by Will Quince
This government firmly believes that every child in the care system deserves to live in a high quality home that meets their needs and keeps them safe. The vast majority of looked after children up to the age of 18 live with foster carers or in a children’s home. These placements are subject to robust regulatory checks and balances by Ofsted, to ensure that they meet the needs of children they accommodate and keep them safe.
When local authorities make a placement decision, they are responsible for ensuring the placement is suitable. This includes ensuring staff who will be looking after the child at the placement are appropriately trained and have the skills needed to meet the needs of the child and to keep them safe. It is not in accordance with the law to place a looked after child in a placement that does not meet their needs and keep them safe, and it is unacceptable for any child or young person to be placed in such a placement.
The government is clear that supported accommodation for young people, also referred to as unregulated provision, can be the right option for some older children. However, the government is equally clear that the support and accommodation provided in this provision must always be of high quality, and that the young person must be ready for the level of independence it promotes. That is why, in December 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the government will invest over £142 million across the next three financial years to fund the introduction of new mandatory national standards, Ofsted registration, and inspection for these providers.
This means that all placements accommodating looked after children and care leavers up to age 18 will now be regulated by Ofsted, will ensure that local authorities can be confident when making placements in this provision, and strengthen our ability to take action against poor providers.
Further information on the government’s plans to reform this vital area is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/transformational-investment-in-childrens-social-care-placements.