Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to evaluate the effectiveness of her Department's policy on the value of reorganised qualifications in apprenticeship standards.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Qualifications should not generally be needed within an apprenticeship as the end-point assessment will provide definitive evidence of whether the apprentice has acquired full occupational competence. Not mandating qualifications in standards unless absolutely necessary ensures that individual employers have the freedom to choose the most appropriate training to enable their apprentices to achieve this.
Qualifications can only be specified in the standard if they are either a legal requirement, needed for professional registration or where an apprentice would be at a significant disadvantage as they try to progress in their career without it.
The Institute for Apprenticeships will take over responsibility for ensuring the quality of Apprenticeships standards from April 2017 and will advise the Government on policy implications or trends emerging through the standards approvals process.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Trailblazer groups developing new apprenticeship standards have been advised that their draft Trailblazer Standard should not include a qualification because it does not meet her Department's rules.
Answered by Robert Halfon
All approved apprenticeship standards, including those that do not contain mandated qualifications, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-standards.
Qualifications can only be specified in the standard if they are either a legal requirement, needed for professional registration or where an apprentice would be at a significant disadvantage as they try to progress in their career without them. The rationale for restricting the inclusion of qualifications is that the end-point assessment will provide definitive evidence of whether the apprentice has acquired full occupational competence thus negating the need for on-programme qualifications. Not mandating qualifications in standards unless absolutely necessary also ensures that individual employers have the freedom to choose the most appropriate training to enable their apprentices to achieve full competence.
This means that Trailblazers that would like qualifications in their standards but can’t meet one of the criteria are advised not to include them, and Trailblazers that submit standards including qualifications without providing the evidence that their inclusion meets one of the criteria are either rejected or approved subject to the removal of the qualifications.
However, with over 215 Trailblazers having developed or developing nearly 500 standards, we do not hold information about the number of times this kind of advice has been provided.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Trailblazer groups developing new apprenticeship standards have had their draft Trailblazer Standard rejected because it includes a qualification which does not meet her Department's rules.
Answered by Robert Halfon
All approved apprenticeship standards, including those that do not contain mandated qualifications, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-standards.
Qualifications can only be specified in the standard if they are either a legal requirement, needed for professional registration or where an apprentice would be at a significant disadvantage as they try to progress in their career without them. The rationale for restricting the inclusion of qualifications is that the end-point assessment will provide definitive evidence of whether the apprentice has acquired full occupational competence thus negating the need for on-programme qualifications. Not mandating qualifications in standards unless absolutely necessary also ensures that individual employers have the freedom to choose the most appropriate training to enable their apprentices to achieve full competence.
This means that Trailblazers that would like qualifications in their standards but can’t meet one of the criteria are advised not to include them, and Trailblazers that submit standards including qualifications without providing the evidence that their inclusion meets one of the criteria are either rejected or approved subject to the removal of the qualifications.
However, with over 215 Trailblazers having developed or developing nearly 500 standards, we do not hold information about the number of times this kind of advice has been provided.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will list the approved apprenticeship Trailblazer Standards which do not include recognised qualifications.
Answered by Robert Halfon
All approved apprenticeship standards, including those that do not contain mandated qualifications, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/apprenticeship-standards.
Qualifications can only be specified in the standard if they are either a legal requirement, needed for professional registration or where an apprentice would be at a significant disadvantage as they try to progress in their career without them. The rationale for restricting the inclusion of qualifications is that the end-point assessment will provide definitive evidence of whether the apprentice has acquired full occupational competence thus negating the need for on-programme qualifications. Not mandating qualifications in standards unless absolutely necessary also ensures that individual employers have the freedom to choose the most appropriate training to enable their apprentices to achieve full competence.
This means that Trailblazers that would like qualifications in their standards but can’t meet one of the criteria are advised not to include them, and Trailblazers that submit standards including qualifications without providing the evidence that their inclusion meets one of the criteria are either rejected or approved subject to the removal of the qualifications.
However, with over 215 Trailblazers having developed or developing nearly 500 standards, we do not hold information about the number of times this kind of advice has been provided.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether use is made of hypnotherapy within the NHS for conditions other than for irritable bowel syndrome.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
This information is not held centrally. It is the responsibility of local National Health Service organisations to make decisions on the commissioning and funding of any health care treatments for NHS patients, taking into account safety, clinical and cost-effectiveness and the availability of suitably qualified/regulated practitioners.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to paragraph 130 of her Department's consultation entitled, Reforming the Soft Tissue Injury Claims Process, published in November 2016, what the evidential basis is for the assertion that credit hire costs added up to £10 per policy to car insurance premiums.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The range of £3 to £10 which formed part of the call for evidence section of the consultation document was based on figures from a variety of reports and investigations carried out by the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission, the Competition and Markets Authority and from industry sources.Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to form the expert panel for Gypsy, Traveller and Roma education; and who will be invited to participate in that panel.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to ensuring that every child, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to progress and succeed at school. There are a number of factors that influence the educational outcomes of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils and the Department is exploring the drivers for improving attainment. The Department will share its plans in due course.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential effect of withdrawal of the archaeology A-level on the number of students taking that subject at undergraduate level.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is disappointing that AQA has taken the decision to withdraw from offering these subjects at A level. Neither subject, however, is a pre-requisite for degree level study, and both are taken by a relatively small number of students.
The option for AQA or another exam board to develop A level specifications for these subjects in future will also remain open. We are in discussion with the exam boards on this issue.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the potential effect of withdrawal of the history of art A-level on the number of students taking that subject at undergraduate level.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is disappointing that AQA has taken the decision to withdraw from offering these subjects at A level. Neither subject, however, is a pre-requisite for degree level study, and both are taken by a relatively small number of students.
The option for AQA or another exam board to develop A level specifications for these subjects in future will also remain open. We are in discussion with the exam boards on this issue.
Asked by: John Pugh (Liberal Democrat - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of recommendations made by the Bacc for the Future campaign before deciding which subjects to include in the English baccalaureate.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) comprises the core academic curriculum: English, mathematics, the sciences (including computer science), history or geography and a language. The subjects are closely based on the facilitating subjects at A level, which the Russell Group of universities say keep a wide range of degree courses open to students.
The Government believes that, alongside the EBacc, all pupils should have access to an excellent, well-rounded education and the arts are central to this. All schools, including academies and free schools, must provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. We expect all schools to offer a wide range of options alongside the EBacc which has been designed to be limited in size so that there is flexibility for pupils to take additional GCSEs that reflect their own individual interests and strengths.
We are considering the responses to the consultation on the implementation of the EBacc, including those from the Bacc for the Future campaign, and we will publish the government response in due course.