Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the Apprenticeship Levy that has been spent on people studying at (a) Level 3 and (b) level 4 and above in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the government’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. Employers have developed over 670 apprenticeship standards, including 220 at level 3 and 315 at levels 4 and above, to build the skilled workforces they need.
There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts in England since 2010.
The apprenticeships budget in England is used to fund training and assessment for new apprenticeship starts in levy and non-levy paying employers, and to cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training and any additional payments made to employers and providers. The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year, and it is encouraging to see that in the 2021/22 financial year, 99.6% of the budget was spent.
The table below shows the total apprenticeships participation spend in England at level 3 and above from the 2017/18 academic year. This is the total spend for apprenticeships by both levy-paying and non-levy paying employers and includes apprenticeships started in previous years.
Apprenticeships participation spend (£ million) | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | Level 5 | Level 6 | Level 7 |
2017/18 | 622 | 746 | 68 | 55 | 33 | 11 |
2018/19 | 557 | 838 | 120 | 100 | 78 | 57 |
2019/20 | 473 | 885 | 163 | 132 | 133 | 118 |
2020/21 | 378 | 848 | 192 | 156 | 203 | 186 |
2021/22 | 421 | 953 | 222 | 160 | 290 | 216 |
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the real-terms change to funding for Further Education Colleges has been in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department does not hold this information, as it does not record or calculate the real terms changes to funding as requested.
There will be an extra £1.6 billion in 16-19 education by the 2024/25 financial year compared with 2021/22.
We are making a capital investment in skills over this Spending Review period of over £2.8 billion, to improve the condition of post-16 estate, provide new places in post-16 education, provide specialist equipment and facilities for T Levels, and deliver the commitment to 21 Institutes of Technology across England. This investment will ensure that colleges are able to deliver the skills that local areas need, including in key sectors like biosciences and green energy.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185900 on Healthy Start Scheme, what the forecasted number was of (a) beneficiaries or (b) families in percentage format of the Healthy Start Scheme for (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2022-23.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Healthy Start Scheme is a demand-led scheme and spending on the scheme varies each year. Departmental forecasts on numbers of beneficiaries and uptake of the Healthy Start scheme are not available. The cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme in 2021/22 was £78,148,555.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185900 on Healthy Start Scheme, on what timescale his Department measures forecasted uptake of the Healthy Start Scheme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Healthy Start Scheme is a demand-led scheme and spending on the scheme varies each year. Departmental forecasts on numbers of beneficiaries and uptake of the Healthy Start scheme are not available. The cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme in 2021/22 was £78,148,555.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money was (a) allocated to and (b) spent on the Healthy Start Scheme in the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Healthy Start Scheme is a demand-led scheme and spending on the scheme varies each year. Departmental forecasts on numbers of beneficiaries and uptake of the Healthy Start scheme are not available. The cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme in 2021/22 was £78,148,555.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Heathy Start Scheme applications were rejected due to the form being filled out incorrectly in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) March 2023; and how many applications to that scheme were rejected in that period in total.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority does not collect this data.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for a nuclear test veterans medal have been received; and how many of those medals have been issued.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As of 5 June 2023, 1,425 applications had been received and registered by the Ministry of Defence Medals Office for a Nuclear Test Medal. No medals have been issued as the medal design has yet to be finalised and production is expected to begin later this summer.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185900 on Healthy Start Scheme, how much funding was provided to his Department for the Healthy Start scheme in 2021-22; and what was the forecasted number of families on the scheme during this time.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The cost of operating the Healthy Start scheme in 2021/22 was £78,148,555. Departmental forecasts of the number of families on the scheme during this time are not available.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185901 on Visas: Ukraine, for what reason her Department is not planning to take steps to run a further online survey which produces higher quality and reliable data.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There are particular challenges in obtaining a representative response from a population of this type.
The latest published statistics on Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data are available here: Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) and Ukraine Extension Scheme visa data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of recipients of Healthy Start paper vouchers who have not re-enrolled via the online registration system as of 1 June 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The NHS Business Services Authority estimates that as of 1 June 2023 there were 34,020 households which previously were in receipt of paper vouchers which have not successfully applied to the NHS Healthy Start prepaid card scheme.