Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to allocate catch-up funding to further education colleges due to the covid-19 outbreak in the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
We recognise that the disruption that COVID-19 has caused in education settings has had a huge impact on children and young people’s learning.
Overall, the government has committed to a catch-up package worth £1 billion. This includes a ‘Catch-Up Premium’ worth a total of £650 million to support schools to make up for lost teaching time.
The £1 billion catch-up package also includes the £350 million National Tutoring Programme, which includes £96 million for a 16-19 Tuition Fund for the 2020-21 academic year to enable further education and sixth form colleges, school sixth forms and other 16-19 providers of further education to provide small group tuition for students aged 16-19 to help them catch-up.
We are also providing a further £300 million for tutoring, building on the existing £350 million. This funding will support a range of catch-up efforts, including those to support colleges, sixth forms and other FE providers to arrange high quality tuition, building on the £96 million provided last year. Further details will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of public sector organisations have met the public sector apprentice target in each year since the target was introduced.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
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.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what methodology his Department used to determine the level of the one-off funding of £20 million to higher education providers in December 2020 to help to address student hardship during financial year 2020-21.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
We realise that this is an incredibly difficult time for students and are aware of the disproportionate impact that the COVID-19 outbreak will have on some students. The up to £20 million of additional hardship funding has been made available to support those that need it most, particularly disadvantaged students.
The level for this funding was set following discussions with Student Money Advisers within higher education providers and with reference to the views of providers gathered by Universities UK.
The funding has been targeted towards those providers who recruit and support high numbers of disadvantaged students, reflecting where this funding is needed most to enable students to continue with their courses and achieve successful outcomes.
We asked the Office for Students to ensure that the funding is available to students as quickly as possible, so that it can meet the immediate needs of students and be allocated by the end of this financial year (31 March 2021).
On the 2 February 2021 we announced that we are making available a further £50 million of hardship funding for this financial year, for higher education (HE) providers to use to support students in greatest need. This funding can be distributed to a wide population of students, including international students impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding is in addition to the £256 million of Student Premium funding which HE providers are also able draw on this academic year towards student hardship funds. We shall continue to monitor the situation going forward to look at what impact this funding is having.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with universities regarding the potential effect on those institutions of a reduction in undergraduate tuition fees where the quality of the course has been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
I recognise that the COVID-19 outbreak has brought, and will continue to bring, very significant challenges for higher education (HE) providers, including financially. This is why I established the HE taskforce which is made up of representatives from across the sector to discuss COVID-19 related challenges which universities and other HE providers are facing.
Alongside the taskforce, I have been regularly meeting with representatives of the HE sector, including university Vice Chancellors, the National Union of Students, the Union for Colleges and Universities and the devolved administrations.
Universities are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees, up to a maximum of £9,250 for standard full-time undergraduate courses offered by approved (fee cap) providers. However, the Government has been clear that universities are expected to maintain quality and academic standards and the quantity of tuition should not drop. Universities should seek to ensure all students, regardless of their background, can access their studies remotely. We have seen some fantastic and innovative examples of high-quality online learning being delivered by providers across the country.
If students have concerns about the quality of their course, they should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint.
The changing COVID-19 situation will continue to present challenges and the nature and extent of impact will remain variable across the sector. The Office of Students is monitoring the situation and the Department for Education is working closely with it and sector representative bodies to maintain an up-to-date understanding of issues arising during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2020 to Question 22783 on Apprentices: Taxation, where that unspent levy money is located in his departmental budget.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from all UK employers with a pay bill above £3 million. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland receive a share of levy funding and decide how their allocations should be used.
In each of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, the annual budget available for investment in apprenticeships in England was set at almost £2.5 billion, which is double that spent in the 2010-11 financial year. This budget is agreed in advance with Her Majesty’s Treasury and is set at a level to fund employer demand for apprenticeships; it is not dependent on income from the levy and does not equate to the funds in employer’s apprenticeship service accounts.
When an employer draws from its levy account, it effectively draws down funding from the fixed, annual apprenticeships budget. We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds in their accounts, though they are able to do so.
Unspent levy money does not therefore feature in the department’s apprenticeship budget. The budget is not affected by the value of funds which may enter or expire from employers’ accounts each month.
Funds raised by the levy are used to support the whole apprenticeship system through the set apprenticeships budget, supporting apprenticeships in smaller employers and covering the ongoing costs of apprentices already in training.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursing (a) apprenticeship starts and (b) apprentices there were in 2019-20.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
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:
| Apprenticeship starts in 2019/20 | Apprenticeship participation in 2019/20 |
Registered Nurse – degree | 940 | 2,080 |
Nursing associate | 3,620 | 8,370 |
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.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that further education colleges receive a further allocation of laptops.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
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.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the level of likelihood of enforcement action by the Competition and Markets Authority against universities in response to potential breaches of consumer law as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
The government has been clear throughout the COVID-19 outbreak that we expect providers to ensure they are fully complying with their consumer law obligations. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) offers guidance on consumer law for higher education (HE) providers. The CMA has been clear that obligations under the law have not changed and providers must ensure they are meeting them.
The CMA currently has a programme of work relating to cancellations and refunds, and has issued advice and taken enforcement action in several sectors. Officials at the Department for Education are in regular contact with the CMA and the Office for Students (OfS) in relation to relevant issues in the HE sector which have arisen due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
On 30 November 2020, the CMA published a re-statement of their views on consumer law in relation to HE. The CMA had also previously published guidance on consumer contracts, cancellation and refunds affected by COVID-19. This sets out the CMA’s view on how the law operates to help students understand their rights and help providers treat their students fairly. This is available via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/consumer-protection-review-of-higher-education.
Although the CMA is able to take enforcement action where there are breaches of consumer law, in HE the OfS as the regulatory body also has an important role. All registered providers are subject to ongoing OfS conditions of registration relating to student protection and consumer law.
The government expects quality and academic standards will be maintained, and the OfS has made it clear that all HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards. I wrote to the OfS on 13 January 2021, outlining the government’s expectations of the higher education sector following the new national measures put in place.
Following this, the OfS wrote to providers’ Accountable Officers, setting out the actions they are taking in connection with providers’ compliance with existing regulatory requirements. The OfS has produced specific guidance as to how compliance will be assessed in the light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The OfS has also previously published guidance on student consumer protection during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available via the following link: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection/student-protection/consumer-benefit-forum/.
If students have concerns, they should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for higher education to consider their complaint.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Office for Students regarding the level of likelihood of enforcement action under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 against universities in respect of potential non-compliance with the general ongoing conditions of registration due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I have regular discussions with the Office for Students (OfS) on a range of issues, including their regulatory approach and the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on students and universities. The government has made it clear to the OfS that our priority is to support the wellbeing of students and staff throughout higher education and to enable students to complete their courses and secure excellent outcomes. I wrote to the OfS on 13 January 2021 to support their intention to reiterate to providers their obligation to have regard to relevant guidance about consumer protection law. The government has been very clear to the OfS that higher education providers are expected to maintain quality and academic standards, and the quantity of tuition should not drop. Universities and colleges have risen to the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak, producing interactive, high quality and innovative remote learning.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of whether the Office for Students has fulfilled its four primary regulatory objectives in response to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
We work closely with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure that it is working with universities and that universities are delivering what students expect and require for their studies. We will always work closely with the OfS to deliver the very best for students and ensure that universities deliver on students’ behalf.
To support students, the OfS has funded mental health support, distributed hardship funding, monitored quality, issued guidance and set expectations for providers concerning support for self-isolating students throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.
The performance of the OfS is closely monitored at all times by the department and its board, as set out in the framework agreement between the OfS and the Department for Education, and in line with the Cabinet Office code of good practice on arms-length bodies.