Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) Level 4 and (b) Level 5 apprenticeships have been started in South Holland and the Deepings constituency since 2019 as of 20 March 2024.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Level 4 and 5 apprenticeship starts in South Holland and The Deepings constituency can be found in the following table:
Academic year | Level 4 | Level 5 |
2018/19 | 70 | 50 |
2019/20 | 40 | 60 |
2020/21 | 50 | 60 |
2021/22 | 60 | 70 |
2022/23 | 80 | 60 |
2023/24 reported to date | 50 | 30 |
Total | 340 | 330 |
Note:
(1) Figures for 2023/24 are provisional and cover the first two quarters (Aug 2023 to Jan 2024). All other years are final, full-year figures.
(2) Apprenticeship start volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.
(3) The data source is the Individualised Learner Record.
Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the apprenticeships publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what fiscal steps she is taking to support (a) training programmes, (b) apprenticeships and (c) other efforts to promote (i) job creation and (ii) skills development in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Funding allocations are not available broken down to the level of individual constituencies.
The government is committed to creating a world-leading skills system that is employer-focused, high quality and fit for the future. The department’s reforms are strengthening higher and further education to help more people get good jobs and upskill and retrain throughout their lives; and to improve national productivity and economic growth. The department’s reforms are backed with an additional investment of £3.8 billion over the course of this parliament to strengthen higher and further education.
In the 2023/24 academic year, the department is investing nearly £7 billion for education and training places for 16 to 19 year olds, and up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This funding is allocated to education providers to deliver study programmes and T Levels to young people.
The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which totalled £1.34 billion in the 2023/24 Funding Year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to Level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes funding going to Boston College, which includes the Spalding Campus in the South Holland and the Deepings Constituency.
The Free Courses for Jobs offer gives eligible adults the chance to access high value Level 3 qualification for free, which can support them to gain higher wages or a better job. Around 400 qualifications are available on the offer, chosen specifically as they offer good wage outcomes and address skills needs in the economy. There have been over 61,000 enrolments since April 2021.
Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks in priority skills areas, with a guaranteed interview upon completion. The department is expanding Skills Bootcamps through increased national procurement and grant funding to 30 Mayoral Combined Authorities and local areas to meet national and local skills needs in the 2024/25 financial year. The department granted Great Lincolnshire LEP, in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, £2 million for Skills Bootcamps across Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland in 2023, and a further £3 million for courses starting after April 2024.
The department is increasing investment in the apprenticeships system in England to over £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year to support more high quality apprenticeship opportunities across the country, including in South Holland and the Deepings. There have been over 11,000 apprenticeship starts in South Holland and the Deepings since 2010.
The department has introduced employer-designed T levels, which are equipping thousands of young people with the skills, knowledge, and experience to access employment or further study in some of the most in-demand skills areas. 18 T Levels are now available, being delivered through over 250 providers across all regions of the country. University Academy Holbeach in South Holland and the Deepings currently offers seven T Levels and is planning to offer three more from September 2024.
Multiply is the government’s programme for improving adult numeracy. Multiply is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is the government’s flagship fund for supporting people and places across the UK. Up to £270 million is directly available for local areas in England to deliver innovative interventions to improve adult numeracy. Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated £4.02 million of Multiply funding from the 2022/23 to 2024/25 financial years to improve adult numeracy in their area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of services for children with special educational needs and disabilities in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
A joint local area special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) inspection of Lincolnshire was undertaken by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in October 2018. At the time, inspectors identified no significant areas of weakness in SEND services. The inspection covered all of Lincolnshire including South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Ofsted launched a new framework for area SEND inspections in January 2023. This framework introduced a continuous cycle of inspections, where each local area will have at least one full area SEND inspection within five years of the launch of the framework. Lincolnshire will be inspected under this framework in due course.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) new and (b) existing schools have built designated multi-faith areas since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect or hold data about the construction of designated multi-faith areas by schools.
It is the department’s understanding that the vast majority schools which provide multi-faith areas do so by using existing spaces such as classrooms and assembly halls.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse was for educational grants provided to (a) South Holland District Council and (b) South Kesteven District Council in (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not make any grants directs to South Holland District Council or South Kesteven District Council.
The department is able to provide the schools National Funding Formula (NFF) allocations for schools in the South Holland and District Council and South Kesteven District Council for 2022/23 and 2023/24. Other funding allocations are not available broken down to the level of district councils.
NFF allocations for schools in the areas of South Holland District Council and South Kesteven District Council for 2022/23 and 2023/24 can be found in the attached tables. This covers mainstream schools funding only. The schools NFF determines school revenue funding for all mainstream schools in England, although schools’ actual allocations are based on local authorities’ local funding formulae. District council figures are based on an aggregate of schools’ NFF allocations.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department provided to Stonewall in 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has not funded any Stonewall programmes in 2023.
The Standards and Testing Agency (STA), an executive agency of the department, paid a total of £2,160 to Stonewall in 2023. The contract the payment relates to has now expired and STA has confirmed it has no new contracts with Stonewall.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been spent on translation services in schools from English to (a) Polish, (b) Arabic, (c) Urdu, (d) Panjabi and (e) Romanian in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for South Holland and The Deepings, to the answer of 30 January 2024 to questions 10704 and 10705.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of antisemitism incidents there have been on higher education campuses since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Departmental officials have assessed evidence of antisemitism and racial hatred linked to incidents at English universities. Where concerns have arisen, officials have reached out to relevant universities to understand what actions they have taken, including reporting issues to the police where appropriate. The department also continually reminds providers of their obligations under the Prevent duty, where they should be working to prevent people from being drawn into or supporting terrorism. There is an online "Reporting Extremism" form where members of the public can raise concerns to the department directly.
The department also regularly meets with the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors and reports on antisemitism in the UK. CST’s latest report indicates that there were 154 antisemitic incidents in higher education (HE) between 7 October 2023 and 13 December 2023.
This unprecedented level of antisemitism on campus is deeply concerning. On 5 November 2023, the department published a five-point plan detailing concerted action to protect Jewish students in HE. The plan involves:
In the 22 November 2023 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £7 million of funding over three years for a comprehensive package of measures to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities. The department will issue an invitation to tender shortly for organisations interested in delivering this package.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the cost to the public purse for the translation of school materials into languages other than English in each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
School funding is distributed by the department fairly, based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. It is then for school heads and governors to decide how this money is spent, in line with their school’s context.
The department does not hold the cost and spending for translating school materials into non-English languages or providing language translators in schools. Such professional services are procured by individual schools and local authorities. Local authorities can ‘de-delegate’ funding from maintained schools in their area to meet the costs to improve the performance of underperforming pupils from ethnic minority groups and meeting the specific needs of bilingual pupils, and local authorities submit data on this spending as part of their annual returns to the department. ‘De-delegated’ funding is spent centrally by local authorities to meet costs faced by maintained schools in their area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds information on the number of children that have identified as transgender in schools in each year since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold information regarding the number of children that have identified as transgender in schools.
The NHS has published annual statistics on the number of referrals to gender identity development services, including for under-18s. These statistics can be accessed at: https://gids.nhs.uk/about-us/number-of-referrals/.
On 19 December 2023, the department published draft guidance for consultation in relation to children who are questioning their gender. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and will close at 11:59pm on 12 March 2024. This is accessible at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/equalities-political-impartiality-anti-bullying-team/gender-questioning-children-proposed-guidance/consultation/subpage.2023-12-19.3445648010/.