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 she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on reform of the Apprenticeship Levy to support training needs in the road haulage sector.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This department continues to work closely with the Department for Transport and across government to ensure that the road haulage sector has access to the skills training that employers need. This engagement has led to important improvements to apprenticeships and skills bootcamps. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not met with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport to discuss reform of the apprenticeship levy.
The apprenticeship levy has enabled the department to increase investment to a total of £2.7 billion by 2024/25, which will support apprenticeship starts across every sector, including road haulage. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education regularly reviews the funding for apprenticeship standards. The department has recently increased funding for the heavy goods vehicle service and maintenance technician apprenticeship standard by 33% (from £15,000 to £20,000), the large goods vehicle apprenticeship standard by 14% (£7,000 to £8,000) and the motor vehicle service technician apprenticeship standard by 7% (£15,000 to £16,000). These increases are supporting providers deliver essential training across the sector.
In response to supply issues for driver training and testing in the transport sector, the department also introduced temporary arrangements through the apprenticeship system, so that more providers could deliver training and testing for the acquisition of a driving license.
Skills bootcamps are also providing opportunities for people to train as drivers, gain their licenses and launch new careers in road haulage sector. The department has invested up to £32 million to create up to 11,000 HGV driver training places, with further funding being allocated to support this training offer in the 2023/24 financial year.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of truancy in secondary schools since 2020.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Improving attendance remains a top priority for the Department. The Department is implementing a comprehensive attendance strategy to ensure that absence is minimised, and rates are returned to pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible.
In 2022, the Department published stronger expectations of schools, trusts, governing bodies and Local Authorities in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf. The Department now expects all schools to appoint a champion, and Local Authorities and schools are to agree individual plans for persistently absent children. The Department has expanded attendance hubs supporting 800 schools with over 400,000 pupils. To help identify children at risk of persistent absence and to enable early intervention, the Department established a timelier flow of pupil level attendance data through the daily attendance data collection. 86% of state funded schools are now signed up to this.
Across all phases, around 380,000 fewer pupils were persistently absent or not attending in 2022/23 than in 2021/22. Daily data for 2022/23 show school absence of 9.3% in secondary schools, down from 10.0% absent or not attending school for covid related reasons in 2021/22. Further absence data from the School Census is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
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 further education colleges reported anti-Semitic incidents in each year since 2013.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The UK unequivocally condemns the recent terrorist attacks by Hamas and stands in solidarity with Israel in its hour of need. Antisemitism has no place in our society.
The Department does not hold this information. Whilst the Department strongly encourages schools and colleges to record and report all kinds of bullying, there is not a legal requirement for schools and colleges to record and report incidents of bullying.
The Department has published guidance to support schools and colleges to monitor bullying incidents and evaluate the effectiveness of their approaches, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying. The Government is committed to ensuring that all schools and colleges prepare children for life in modern Britain. Every school and college should actively promote the shared values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.
The Prime Minister has announced that £3 million of extra funding will be provided to the Community Security Trust to protect schools, colleges, nurseries and synagogues and other Jewish community buildings.
The Secretary of State and Ministers visited a Jewish school to show their support and wrote to school and college headteachers on 17 October to remind them of their relevant responsibilities, including the need to challenge intolerance and actively respond to discrimination, as well as outlining their duties under the Prevent programme. The Department’s Educate Against Hate website provides a range of resources and support to challenge discrimination and intolerance, and how to respond where you have concerns. This is available at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.
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 schools reported anti-Semitic incidents in each year since 2013.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The UK unequivocally condemns the recent terrorist attacks by Hamas and stands in solidarity with Israel in its hour of need. Antisemitism has no place in our society.
The Department does not hold this information. Whilst the Department strongly encourages schools and colleges to record and report all kinds of bullying, there is not a legal requirement for schools and colleges to record and report incidents of bullying.
The Department has published guidance to support schools and colleges to monitor bullying incidents and evaluate the effectiveness of their approaches, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying. The Government is committed to ensuring that all schools and colleges prepare children for life in modern Britain. Every school and college should actively promote the shared values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs.
The Prime Minister has announced that £3 million of extra funding will be provided to the Community Security Trust to protect schools, colleges, nurseries and synagogues and other Jewish community buildings.
The Secretary of State and Ministers visited a Jewish school to show their support and wrote to school and college headteachers on 17 October to remind them of their relevant responsibilities, including the need to challenge intolerance and actively respond to discrimination, as well as outlining their duties under the Prevent programme. The Department’s Educate Against Hate website provides a range of resources and support to challenge discrimination and intolerance, and how to respond where you have concerns. This is available at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.
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 schools have been the subject of parental complaints about the teaching of religious and sexual education in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department does not collect data on how many subject related complaints are received across schools. Individual schools and trusts will be able to provide information about complaints they have received.
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 schools reported anti-Semitic incidents in each year since 2013.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 198597 on Pupils: Transgender People, what external bodies she has met in the preparation of guidance on transgender pupils in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department engages with external bodies on a regular basis, and a number of these conversations have related to the guidance that the Department is developing for schools and colleges on gender questioning pupils. The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication, and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.
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 discussions she has had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on her Department's planned guidance for schools on transgender issues.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has engaged with a number of stakeholders in relation to developing the guidance for schools and colleges on gender questioning children.
The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.
It is vital that the guidance published gives clarity for schools and colleges, and reassurance for parents. The Department is taking the necessary time to ensure that it reflects the best possible advice before publishing the draft.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with which organisations (a) she and (b) her officials have held discussions on the preparation of guidance on transgender pupils in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department engages with external bodies on a regular basis and a number of these conversations have related to the guidance the Department is developing for schools and colleges on gender questioning children. The Department will be undertaking a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to finalisation, and will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders throughout this process.
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 steps she is taking to improve careers advice in schools in rural areas.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Careers guidance is the first rung on the ladder of opportunity, setting individuals on the path to success and allowing talent to flourish. The department is spending over £18.8 million to support the full rollout of Careers Hubs across England, so that every secondary school and college can be part of a Careers Hub. The Careers Hubs Network (CHN), delivered by the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), is a tried and tested model for partnership and collaboration in careers education.
As of April 2023, coverage of the CHN has been expanded to cover over 90% (4,621) of schools and colleges. Our ambition is to go further still and for 95% of schools and colleges, including in rural areas, to be part of a Careers Hub by August 2024.
Cornerstone Employers are also a key part of our careers offer. The CEC has built a network of around 400 Cornerstone Employers across the country, including rural areas, who support clusters of secondary schools and colleges. They provide strong local leadership in the area and drive the delivery of encounters for pupils.