Karin Smyth

Energy suppliers are responsible for administering the Warm Home Discount and applying rebates to their eligible customers’ accounts. They are not required to report on the number of rebates issued to customers broken down by the payment methods their customers use for their energy bills. We therefore do not hold data on the number of prepayment customers who receive the Warm Home Discount rebate.

We consulted last summer on reforms to the scheme that would enable the vast majority of customers to receive their rebate automatically, without the need to apply. We will publish the Government’s Response in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.

In the 2021/22 scheme year, all low-income pensioners who are potentially eligible for a rebate under the Warm Home Discount Core Group will have received a letter from the Government by mid-December 2021, regardless of their energy bill payment method. Most will receive the rebate automatically; in 2020/21, around 95% of Core Group recipients received their rebates automatically. In addition, the Warm Home Discount website is widely signposted and used by consumer groups, charities, and energy comparison websites to maximise uptake.

Energy suppliers are responsible for administering their Broader Group rebates, including setting their eligibility criteria and providing the rebates to eligible households. Suppliers make their customers aware of the scheme and are usually over-subscribed with applications.

We consulted last summer on reforms to the scheme that would enable the vast majority of customers to receive their rebate automatically, without the need to apply. We will publish the Government’s Response in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.

For all payment methods, energy suppliers generally start issuing Warm Home Discount rebates in October in a scheme year and have until 31 March to apply the rebate to eligible customers’ energy bills. They may, however, provide rebates at any time before this deadline, with most rebates being provided to customers by January in a scheme year. These timings allow for the data matching process and eligibility checks to be undertaken and the delivery of over 2.2 million £140 rebates to vulnerable households when they need it most, around wintertime.

The Broader Group is the only application-based portion of the scheme, and it is administered by energy suppliers. Energy suppliers are responsible for arranging their own Broader Group processes and applying rebates to their eligible customers’ accounts, including deciding how customers can apply for a rebate, when to open for applications, how they verify applications, and when they pay rebates during the scheme year. They are not required to report on the number of rebates issued to customers broken down by the payment methods their customers use for their energy bills. We therefore do not hold data on the number of prepayment customers who receive the Warm Home Discount rebate.

We consulted last summer on reforms to the scheme that would enable the vast majority of customers to receive their rebate automatically, without the need to apply. This would reduce the time needed to verify customers’ eligibility. We will publish the Government’s Response in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.

The Warm Home Discount is a key policy in the Government’s programme to tackle fuel poverty and the effects of rising energy prices on low-income households, irrespective of which payment methods households use. In the current scheme year (2021/22), we expect that over 2.2 million households will receive a rebate on their energy bills, and a total of over £3 billion of direct assistance has been provided to low-income and vulnerable households since the scheme began in April 2011. Energy suppliers generally issue rebate payments to prepayment meter customers by voucher. These vouchers can be redeemed by the customer to add credit to their meter.

The Government has committed to extending the Warm Home Discount to at least 2025/26 and expanding the spending envelope from the current £350m to £475m (in 2020 prices) per year, which will enable a further 780,000 households to access the scheme. We consulted last summer on reforms to the scheme that will enable the vast majority of rebates to be provided automatically, without customers having to apply. These reforms will make the scheme fairer, easier for eligible customers to access, and better targeted towards fuel poverty. We will publish the Government’s Response in the spring, with the reforms coming into force from the 2022/23 scheme year.

We are delivering on our commitment to build back greener. The Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution will create long-term advantage for the UK in low-carbon technologies and services. It will support up to 250,000 green jobs, levelling up regions across the UK, and reinvigorate our industrial heartlands. The Plan will mobilise £12 billion of Government investment to unlock three times as much private sector investment by 2030.

The Government is clear about the benefits of flexible working for employers and their employees.

Since Covid-19 measures were introduced many more people have been working from home with many businesses rapidly adapting to remote working, using new technology and finding new ways of working. As we move beyond the current situation we are keen to do more to promote flexible working in all its forms.

All employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer have the right to request Flexible Working. In our manifesto we committed to take this further and we will be looking at this in light of COVID.

The Local Industrial Strategies which have been published to date are based on robust evidence, allowing places to make the most of their distinctive strengths, address their weaknesses, and maximise their potential contribution to UK productivity. Local Industrial Strategies have a strong skills focus and are supported by analysis by locally led Skills Advisory Panels (SAPs), to which Government has given each £75,000 funding for the 2020/2021 financial year. SAPs help places to identify local skills priorities based on analysis of the local area, and agree how these will be met through local education and training provision.

The T Level Transition Programme is being phased in alongside T Levels. It is too early to make an overall assessment of the programme based on available evidence from the first year. The programme is new and the first year was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. T Levels are also new, and providers will still be learning what works in supporting progression onto T Levels. The department has published two research reports relating to the first year of teaching. These can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-on-early-delivery-of-the-t-level-transition-programme, and: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey.

The programme has been updated from September 2022 and the department will continue monitoring the programme as it is rolled out.

The additional revenue funding announced at the Autumn Statement is for the core schools budget, which covers primary and secondary phases of education, and high needs.

However, those engaged in further education, as part of the 2021 Autumn Budget, may benefit from the £1.6 billion investment in the National Skills Fund over the years 2022-25, including £550 million investment to significantly expand Skills Bootcamps.

Further decisions on future funding rates for 16-19 education and other budgets for further education colleges, will be taken in light of overall needs, and pressures across the department’s funded sectors, and will be announced in due course.

As part of the post-16 qualifications review, the department has considered the available evidence about outcomes for students who have taken BTECs as well as other Applied General qualifications (AGQs).

The evidence suggests that, after taking into account a student’s background characteristics and prior attainment, those who followed an A level only route generally experienced better outcomes in terms of attainment and future employment impacts. Considering access to higher education and reformed AGQs, the review found that across different prior attainment bandings, students with A levels were consistently more likely to enter higher education than those holding AGQs. For those with the lowest prior attainment, mixed A level and AGQ programmes were slightly more likely to lead to higher education than those with a study programme consisting of A levels.

Therefore, the department will continue to fund some alternative level 3 qualifications, including BTECs where they do not overlap with A levels or T Levels, and where they meet the new quality criteria being implemented as part of the funding approval process for 2025 and beyond, details of which will be published in due course. Qualifications such as BTECs will continue to play an important role for 16 to 19-year-olds and adults. This includes for students taking these qualifications in mixed programmes alongside A levels or as an alternative programme in areas that may be less well-served by A levels or T Levels.

The updated impact assessment published alongside the response to the second stage consultation looked at the potential impact of the review including the removal of funding for some BTEC qualifications on both 16 to 19-year-old and adult students, including those with protected characteristics. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-in-england.

The key measure of sufficiency of childcare provision is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. Ofsted data currently shows that the number of places offered by providers on the Early Years Register has remained broadly stable at 1.3 million places since August 2015.

Officials from the department also discuss sufficiency of provision in regular conversations with local authorities.

Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring sufficient childcare places in their area. The department has not been made aware by any local authority of any current sufficiency problem. Bristol City Council, which holds the statutory duty to secure sufficient childcare in Bristol South constituency, is not reporting any issues around provision.

The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 (SR21) settlement will provide an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in 2024/25 compared with the 2021/22 financial year in real terms, at the time of the announcement in October 2021. This includes funding to cover the rising demographic of students, additional hours for all 16 to 19-year-olds, aid the recovery of lost learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for increased take-up of T Levels.

The well-established system of lagged funding for 16-19 education, including further education colleges, sixth forms and school, provides institutions with clear allocations each year based on student data, allowing them to make plans with confidence. Subject to affordability, where institutions see a particularly large increase in student numbers in a year, they typically qualify for exceptional in-year growth funding to help them with the extra costs of these students.

The department has announced how the additional funding from the SR21 will be used for this academic year, 2022/23, including increasing the 16-19 national funding rate from £4,188 to £4,542, the High Value Courses Premium for the most economically valuable subjects from £400 to £600, and looked-after children and care leaver rates from £480 to £504. This follows the extra £691 million allocated in the previous two years and the specific funding made available to help recovery from the pandemic, including the 16-19 Tuition Fund which will make available £400 million over the four academic years from 2020/21 to 2023/24.

In addition, we are investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the course of the Parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity, and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical, skilled education our economy needs.

The department is aware of the pressures rising inflation is causing providers of post-16 education. The government has announced the Government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to support non-domestic customers, including further education colleges, sixth forms and schools. The department will continue to monitor the situation to determine our next steps.

The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 (SR21) settlement will provide an extra £1.6 billion for 16-19 education in 2024/25 compared with the 2021/22 financial year in real terms, at the time of the announcement in October 2021. This includes funding to cover the rising demographic of students, additional hours for all 16 to 19-year-olds, aid the recovery of lost learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for increased take-up of T Levels.

The well-established system of lagged funding for 16-19 education, including further education colleges, sixth forms and school, provides institutions with clear allocations each year based on student data, allowing them to make plans with confidence. Subject to affordability, where institutions see a particularly large increase in student numbers in a year, they typically qualify for exceptional in-year growth funding to help them with the extra costs of these students.

The department has announced how the additional funding from the SR21 will be used for this academic year, 2022/23, including increasing the 16-19 national funding rate from £4,188 to £4,542, the High Value Courses Premium for the most economically valuable subjects from £400 to £600, and looked-after children and care leaver rates from £480 to £504. This follows the extra £691 million allocated in the previous two years and the specific funding made available to help recovery from the pandemic, including the 16-19 Tuition Fund which will make available £400 million over the four academic years from 2020/21 to 2023/24.

In addition, we are investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the course of the Parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity, and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical, skilled education our economy needs.

The department is aware of the pressures rising inflation is causing providers of post-16 education. The government has announced the Government Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to support non-domestic customers, including further education colleges, sixth forms and schools. The department will continue to monitor the situation to determine our next steps.

The department continues to support the further education (FE) sector with the recruitment, retention, and development of teachers through a package of support in the 2022/23 academic year. This includes a new national FE recruitment campaign and teach in FE service to support prospective FE teachers into jobs. This is expected to reach millions of prospective FE teaching staff, and target those with valuable experience and skills in industry to train the next generation of technical experts. Our Taking Teaching Further programme is supporting industry experts to move into FE teaching, and the department is providing bursaries worth up to £26,000, each tax-free, which are available to support FE teacher training in priority subject areas for 2022/23. We are also investing in the quality of existing FE teachers through the T Level Professional Development programme, which has supported over 15,000 staff to deliver the new T Level qualifications.

The department monitors young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) data and liaises with local authorities regarding their duty to track and support young people who are, or are at risk of becoming, NEET.

The department is working with local authorities to support the use of data tools to identify young people at an increased risk of becoming NEET, based on characteristics such as a learning difficulty, disability, or poor school attendance so they can be given extra support.

Funding is provided for a range of support for young people to help minimise time spent NEET, such as the support provided by Youth Hubs.

The department also works with the youth sector to gain further insight into the issues and barriers faced by young people.

We have introduced a range of skills reforms, outlined in the Skills for Jobs White Paper in January 2021, which set out the department’s blueprint to reform post-16 education and training to support young people to get the skills they need to succeed throughout their lives, wherever they live in the country. The Paper is focused on giving people the skills they need now and in the future, in a way that suits them. This is why the department is investing £3.8 billion in further education and skills to ensure young people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses current and future skills gaps, boosts productivity, and supports levelling up.

This investment will support the department’s aim to ensure that every young person has an opportunity to gain high-quality, hands-on training to start and progress in work and get them on the ladder of opportunity. Providers can also make better decisions around what courses they offer and focus on delivering the skills needed for a thriving and productive economy and society, with a particular emphasis on levelling up.

The department has been undertaking a series of reviews at level 3, level 2 and below, of academic and technical qualifications. These reviews will ensure that every funded qualification has a clear purpose, is high-quality, and will lead to good outcomes for students.

The department is investing approximately £100 million in the 2022/23 financial year to help young people and adults to get high-quality careers provision. Through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, we are strengthening the law so that all pupils have the opportunity for six encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships, as they progress through school years 8 to 13.

The department has introduced T Levels, boosting access to high-quality technical education for thousands of 16 to 19-year-olds. Young people are now benefitting from these pioneering new qualifications, designed by employers to ensure students get the skills they need for great jobs. We have also introduced the T Level Transition Programme, for students who would benefit from additional study time and preparation before starting their T Level.

Apprenticeships provide an excellent career pathway for young people to gain the skills and experience they need to start climbing the career ladder. The department provides £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged between 16 and 18-years-old. To support young people in accessing apprenticeships, the department is promoting apprenticeships in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme.

In January, the department launched the Get the Jump campaign to help young people aged 14-19 to understand their education and training choices, how they compare, and where these choices can lead. Details of the campaign are available at: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-your-education-and-training-choices.

We are having regular conversations with The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) and The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on the further education reforms we set out in the skills for jobs white paper, where we described our plans to shift the accountability system towards focussing on meeting local and national skills need and giving employers a stronger role in shaping local skills provision through new employer-led plans. We have been having these conversations at official and ministerial level. We have committed to consulting on our proposals on accountability in the spring and will be engaging on the detail with other government departments, including DWP and BEIS, before launching the consultation.

We are lowering the reconciliation threshold for Education and Skills Funding Agency grant funded Adult Education Budget (AEB) adult skills, including non-formula funded community learning and 19-24 traineeships, and Advanced Learner Loan Bursary fund providers for 2020 to 2021, from 97% and 100% respectively to 90%.

Our primary aim is to support providers to continue to deliver as much quality provision as possible, including above the 90% threshold, whether that be face to face where permitted, online or otherwise remotely, and including through subcontracting (for AEB-funded provision only) where that is in line with our subcontracting conditions set out in the rules and contracts.

We acknowledge the situation is still difficult for providers but equally we know that many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face to face learning should enhance further providers’ ability to deliver.

We are announcing this change now, to help providers plan their provision better for the remainder of the 2020/21 academic year.

In areas where the AEB has been devolved, Mayoral Combined Authorities or the Greater London Authority are responsible for considering any provider flexibilities in their areas.

For those providers who are eligible and are at risk of insolvency, they would be referred to the Insolvency Regime or emergency funding process.

We are monitoring the situation carefully and, in particular, if there are providers that may need further support.

We are lowering the reconciliation threshold for Education and Skills Funding Agency grant funded Adult Education Budget (AEB) adult skills, including non-formula funded community learning and 19-24 traineeships, and Advanced Learner Loan Bursary fund providers for 2020 to 2021, from 97% and 100% respectively to 90%.

Our primary aim is to support providers to continue to deliver as much quality provision as possible, including above the 90% threshold, whether that be face to face where permitted, online or otherwise remotely, and including through subcontracting (for AEB-funded provision only) where that is in line with our subcontracting conditions set out in the rules and contracts.

We acknowledge the situation is still difficult for providers but equally we know that many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face to face learning should enhance further providers’ ability to deliver.

We are announcing this change now, to help providers plan their provision better for the remainder of the 2020/21 academic year.

In areas where the AEB has been devolved, Mayoral Combined Authorities or the Greater London Authority are responsible for considering any provider flexibilities in their areas.

For those providers who are eligible and are at risk of insolvency, they would be referred to the Insolvency Regime or emergency funding process.

We are monitoring the situation carefully and, in particular, if there are providers that may need further support.

We are lowering the reconciliation threshold for Education and Skills Funding Agency grant funded Adult Education Budget (AEB) adult skills, including non-formula funded community learning and 19-24 traineeships, and Advanced Learner Loan Bursary fund providers for 2020 to 2021, from 97% and 100% respectively to 90%.

Our primary aim is to support providers to continue to deliver as much quality provision as possible, including above the 90% threshold, whether that be face to face where permitted, online or otherwise remotely, and including through subcontracting (for AEB-funded provision only) where that is in line with our subcontracting conditions set out in the rules and contracts.

We acknowledge the situation is still difficult for providers but equally we know that many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face to face learning should enhance further providers’ ability to deliver.

We are announcing this change now, to help providers plan their provision better for the remainder of the 2020/21 academic year.

In areas where the AEB has been devolved, Mayoral Combined Authorities or the Greater London Authority are responsible for considering any provider flexibilities in their areas.

For those providers who are eligible and are at risk of insolvency, they would be referred to the Insolvency Regime or emergency funding process.

We are monitoring the situation carefully and, in particular, if there are providers that may need further support.

We are lowering the reconciliation threshold for Education and Skills Funding Agency grant funded Adult Education Budget (AEB) adult skills, including non-formula funded community learning and 19-24 traineeships, and Advanced Learner Loan Bursary fund providers for 2020 to 2021, from 97% and 100% respectively to 90%.

Our primary aim is to support providers to continue to deliver as much quality provision as possible, including above the 90% threshold, whether that be face to face where permitted, online or otherwise remotely, and including through subcontracting (for AEB-funded provision only) where that is in line with our subcontracting conditions set out in the rules and contracts.

We acknowledge the situation is still difficult for providers but equally we know that many providers have been able to deliver very successfully remotely during lockdown and the return to face to face learning should enhance further providers’ ability to deliver.

We are announcing this change now, to help providers plan their provision better for the remainder of the 2020/21 academic year.

In areas where the AEB has been devolved, Mayoral Combined Authorities or the Greater London Authority are responsible for considering any provider flexibilities in their areas.

For those providers who are eligible and are at risk of insolvency, they would be referred to the Insolvency Regime or emergency funding process.

We are monitoring the situation carefully and, in particular, if there are providers that may need further support.

We want to ensure that more people from disadvantaged backgrounds can undertake apprenticeships, particularly those that offer higher wage returns and progression opportunities, and we continue to look at how the programme is supporting those from deprived areas.

Employers decide which apprenticeships they offer and when in order to address their skills needs. High-quality apprenticeships at levels 2 and 3 remain an important part of our programme, supporting people from all backgrounds to gain the skills they need to begin or progress in their career. In the first half of 2020/21 academic year, there were 110,500 apprenticeship starts at levels 2 and 3 - over two-thirds of all starts in this period.

We are supporting more people from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds to access apprenticeships through our Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network of over 85 employers. The Network promotes best practice in recruiting and supporting apprentices from diverse backgrounds. In addition, our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge programme supports schools across England to provide students from diverse backgrounds with information on apprenticeships.

Smaller employers play an important role in providing apprenticeship opportunities across the country, particularly for young people and those in deprived areas. To support more smaller employers to offer apprenticeships all SMEs can now reserve funding for up to 10 new apprenticeship starts in 2021-22 financial year. Employers of all sizes can also benefit from the increased incentive payment of £3000 for taking on an apprentice as a new employee.

Through our Plan for Jobs, we are also providing a range of support to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds access high-quality training to develop the skills, experience, and confidence to obtain an apprenticeship. We are supporting the largest-ever expansion of traineeships, providing funding for an additional 30,000 places in 2020/21 academic year, and we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to enable Kickstart placements to turn into apprenticeships where that is the right thing for the employer and the young person. We have made a special provision to allow employers taking on Kickstarters as apprentices to be eligible for the incentive payment, supporting a pathway between the schemes.

T Levels are new, gold standard qualifications that, when fully rolled out, will boost access to high-quality technical education for thousands of young people so they can progress to the next level, whether that is getting a job, going on to further study or an apprenticeship. Designed by over 250 leading employers, T Levels will have real currency in the labour market and help more young people from all backgrounds to access skilled work.

From September 2021, over 100 providers situated across the country will deliver T Levels and we have ensured they are represented in Opportunity Areas. The rollout of T Levels will continue with all 24 subjects available by 2023. T Levels started in September 2020, so students have yet to complete their courses. The department has an evaluation programme in place to assess the impact of T Levels, which will include consideration of the impact on disadvantaged students and groups, but it will take some years to assess the full impact of the programme for disadvantaged students and for social mobility.

We are currently looking at a wide range of proposals that will support education recovery across all age groups, working with the Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins. The department is working closely with the Association of Colleges and other sector representative bodies to develop these proposals.

I am meeting with the Association of Colleges very soon and will be discussing the findings from their survey.

The reforms set out in the Skills for Jobs White Paper cannot succeed without outstanding teachers and teaching. The measures announced in the Skills for Jobs white paper come with a total investment of over £65 million in financial year 2021-22, allowing us to deliver greater support for teacher recruitment, retention, and development.

As set out in the white paper, we will launch a national recruitment campaign for teachers in further education (FE) settings and will strengthen Initial Teacher Education so that it is based on clear employer-led standards. We will also continue to offer financial support for FE teacher training in priority subjects and our Taking Teaching Further programme will continue to help industry experts retrain as FE teachers.

In addition to our continuing T Level Professional Development programme, we will also increase the provision of high-quality professional development, including early career and post-COVID-19 support for online and a mixture of remote and face-to-face teaching. We will also facilitate a stronger relationship between industry and education and training providers through the introduction of a new national Workforce and Industry Exchange programme.

We know that traineeships have significant positive outcomes for young people. 66% of trainees progressed into work, an apprenticeship or further learning in 2018/19 academic year, the year after they completed their traineeship.

We are supporting the largest ever expansion of traineeships, providing funding for an additional 30,000 places in 2020/21 academic year, to ensure that more young people have access to high-quality training. We have extended the £1,000 incentive payments for employers who offer traineeship work placement opportunities to July 2022. We are also providing an additional £126 million to create a further 43,000 places in 2021/22 academic year.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak we have also introduced flexibilities to enable traineeships to support more young people into work wherever possible. These include extending the maximum duration from 6 to 12 months and extending the programme eligibility to include young people with level 3 qualifications who require support to access an apprenticeship or other employment.

We are working with employers to develop new traineeships which will provide young people with a tailored springboard into their chosen industries. From May 2021 we will start to deliver the first ever traineeships developed alongside trade bodies and employers specifically for construction and rail, with further sectors to follow in the summer. These traineeships will be aligned to apprenticeship standards and will significantly increase the opportunities for young people to progress into apprenticeships or other employment.

To help improve traineeship quality and share best practice, we run provider webinars through the Association of Colleges and the Association of Employment and Learning Providers. We have introduced one-to-one meetings with providers to discuss their programmes and achievements with them.

Apprenticeships are more important than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need. To help employers offer new apprenticeships we have increased the level of incentive payments. Employers will be able to claim £3,000 for each apprentice they take on as a new employee between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2021 under the government’s Plan for Jobs. It is encouraging that employers continue to see the value apprentices can bring to their businesses; as of 3 March employers had so far claimed incentive payments for 34,810 apprentices.

Officials engage regularly with Amey to support the growth of their apprenticeship programmes across all areas of their operations and to help them make the most of the wider Plan for Jobs offer.

From May, we will start to deliver the first ever rail traineeships, developed alongside the National Skills Academy for Rail, trade bodies and employers, which will provide a progression route into apprenticeships and jobs in the sector.

There were 82,200 apprenticeship starts in the health, public services, and care sector subject area in the 2019/20 academic year in England. The data for this can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships/2019-20.

We want to increase the number of nursing apprenticeships and now have a complete apprentice pathway, from entry level to postgraduate advanced clinical practice in nursing. This will support people from all backgrounds to enter a nursing career in the NHS.

The number of apprenticeship starts and participating apprentices in the 2019/20 academic year on the Registered Nurse and Nursing Associate apprenticeship standards are shown in the table below:

Notes:

(1) Data source is the Individualised Learner Record.

(2) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

(3) There are different versions for both of these standards. These have been combined to give a single total for 2019/20.

(4) Participation is the count of funded learners that participated at any point during the year.

We are working closely with employers, Health Education England and ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care to make sure that the NHS is fully supported to recruit apprentices, both in nursing and a range of other occupations.

For students in further education across England, we have extended the Get Help with Technology service to provide support with devices and connectivity. This forms part of a £400 million investment, including an additional £100 million announced in January 2021, to help children and young people continue their education at home and access online social care services.

Colleges and other further education institutions are eligible to receive devices where they have students aged 16 to 19 who are in receipt of free meals, and where they have students aged 19 and over with an education, health and care plan who are also in receipt of free meals.

Further education providers will own the laptops and tablets provided under this scheme and can lend these to the young people who need them the most.

The vast majority of further education providers with eligible students have already been invited to order devices, and orders are currently being fulfilled within 5 working days.

Once providers have joined the service and placed an order for devices, they will also be eligible to request 4G wireless routers for financially disadvantaged students who do not have a broadband connection at home.

Public sector bodies with 250 or more staff in England have a target to employ an average of at least 2.3% of their staff as new apprentice starts over the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2021. While the target period is divided into 4 reporting periods lasting a year each, the regulations state that the target will be measured as an average over the full 4-year target period. As such, we cannot determine which organisations have or have not met the target until the final returns for the 2020-21 reporting period have been made later this year.

The latest public sector apprenticeship statistics cover the first 3 years of the target. The target-monitoring data returns that have been submitted so far by individual organisations are published via the following link: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/download/apprenticeships-and-traineeships/2020-21/ancillary/e931cffc-3aab-4ce6-366a-08d8b2fbc21f.

This data shows that, of the 865 public sector organisations that submitted returns in the latest 2019-20 reporting period (and have been included in national aggregates), 99 (11.4%) had employed, on average, at least 2.3% of staff as new apprenticeship starts over the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2020.

The percentage above has been calculated based only on those organisations that made a return in the latest reporting period (2019-20).

The average percentage of staff employed as new apprenticeship starts in each organisation is calculated across all the returns made by that organisation over the target period. Those that have not submitted in each of the 3 years have an average based just on the returns that have been made.

Not all public sector organisations are in the scope of the target (for instance, those with headcounts of fewer than 250 employees are exempt).

Additionally, in their returns, public bodies provide self-reported information on the employment period and headcount relating to the target. The onus is on individual bodies to be accountable for their programme and to publish this information independently as well as report progress to the department. The underlying data for the associated statistical releases exactly replicates the information supplied by public sector bodies. As such, the accuracy of these submissions cannot be completely verified in all aspects.