Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider the potential merits of increasing the apprenticeship levy transfer ceiling to 35%.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is supporting employers to make greater use of their levy and has improved the transfer system to make it easier to find other employers who wish to take on apprentices with transferred funds. Levy transfers are a great way for employers to transfer their funds to other employers in their supply chains, including small employers, flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities to help meet local or sector-specific needs.
Levy-paying employers have been able to transfer 25% of their annual funds since April 2019, when this was increased from 10%, and have been able to use an online service since 2021 to make the process easier.
Since the new service launched in September 2021, we have seen 418 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe and BT Group, pledge to transfer over £28 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes as of 9 June 2023.
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can also access funding directly from the apprenticeships budget. The department is working to remove unnecessary barriers, making it simpler and quicker for them to set up an apprenticeship service account, to access funding and to support them to take on their first apprentice. The department has also removed the limit of 10 apprentices a year that SMEs can take on, enabling them to take on as many skilled apprentices as they need.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds a record of the number of people in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools that have been trained to administer CPR.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory health education which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, such as how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further CPR and defibrillator awareness and training materials as part of the wider curriculum.
As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would discuss with schools whether they teach RSHE content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.
To complement teaching on CPR, in July 2022, the Government committed to ensuring that all state funded schools in England have access to a defibrillator. This programme is now completed. Through this programme the Department provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools across England.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding first aid training in schools in on public safety.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory health education, which is taught as part of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). It includes basic first aid and dealing with common injuries. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, including how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators.
The Department has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance. Stakeholders and interested parties will have the opportunity to contribute to the review through a public consultation. Following the consultation, the Department will make a decision regarding any new content to be included in the RSHE curriculum. The Department expects to publish the revised guidance in 2024.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the St John Ambulance paper entitled St John survey finds just 15% 'very confident' using a defib, published 10 June 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 17 July 2022, the Department announced that it would be providing defibrillators to all state funded schools in England that did not already have them.
The Department has worked with St John Ambulance and other leading charities to revise the defibrillator guidance. This updated guidance gives schools the tools and knowledge they need to manage and maximise access to defibrillators.
As part of the roll out, awareness videos have been provided, showing how simple defibrillators are to use. The Department is asking schools to share these videos in staff meetings and assemblies.
Providing defibrillators and raising awareness will help to produce a generation of young people who feel able and confident to use defibrillators.
This updated guidance on defibrillators in schools can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what Ofsted checks are in place to monitor the efficacy of teachers educating CPR and first-aid in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory health education which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid; for example, how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further defibrillator awareness and training materials to support this as part of the wider curriculum.
In 2022, the Department announced it would provide automated external defibrillators to schools in England to plug local gaps and provide more schools and local communities access to first-aid equipment.
On 20 January 2023, the Department announced that the first deliveries of defibrillators had taken place. More information on the announcement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defibrillator-deliveries-begin-for-all-schools-that-need-one. Since this announcement, as part of the ongoing rollout, the Department has delivered over 6,900 defibrillators to state funded schools.
The Department is reviewing the statutory guidance which will cover the full scope of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance and the Department will gather evidence from a wide range of stakeholders. The Department will consult publicly on an amended draft in the autumn, to conclude by the end of the year. The amended guidance will be published soon after in early 2024.
As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including RSHE. Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would discuss with schools whether they teach RSHE content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to improve the automated external defibrillator training in first aid training to include (a) how to (a) identify a sudden cardiac arrest and (b) administer a defibrillator safely and successfully.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory health education which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid; for example, how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further defibrillator awareness and training materials to support this as part of the wider curriculum.
In 2022, the Department announced it would provide automated external defibrillators to schools in England to plug local gaps and provide more schools and local communities access to first-aid equipment.
On 20 January 2023, the Department announced that the first deliveries of defibrillators had taken place. More information on the announcement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defibrillator-deliveries-begin-for-all-schools-that-need-one. Since this announcement, as part of the ongoing rollout, the Department has delivered over 6,900 defibrillators to state funded schools.
The Department is reviewing the statutory guidance which will cover the full scope of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance and the Department will gather evidence from a wide range of stakeholders. The Department will consult publicly on an amended draft in the autumn, to conclude by the end of the year. The amended guidance will be published soon after in early 2024.
As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including RSHE. Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would discuss with schools whether they teach RSHE content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of announcing (a) three or (b) five year funding settlements for Primary PE and Sport Premium on school planning for improvements to the quality of the PE, sport and physical activity for children; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and Sport premium for the 2023/24 academic year and beyond. The Department understands the importance of providing schools with sufficient notice of future funding and will confirm the position as early as possible.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2022 to Question 80958 on Grammar Schools, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing legislative restrictions on the establishment of new grammar schools; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department maintains a diversity of schools and wants grammar schools to continue to play an important role within the education system.
The Department’s priority is to concentrate on ensuring that as many children as possible, whatever their ability, have access to an outstanding education, rather than creating more grammar schools.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing legislative restrictions on the establishment of new grammar schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department maintains a diversity of provision, including grammar schools and schools designated with a religious character, ‘faith schools’, within the English school system.
The Department does not collect data on the number of children admitted to schools under specific admission criteria, such as aptitude or ability in music, drama or dance or on the basis of their faith.