Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to reform the apprenticeship levy to allow it to be used to support different forms of training.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Department for Education is responsible for apprenticeships policy in England only.
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 it is the responsibility of the devolved administrations to determine how they spend this share to fund and operate their apprenticeship programmes.
The apprenticeship levy underpins our reforms in England to raise apprenticeship quality and support employers to make a long-term, sustainable investment in the skills that they need to grow. Employers are able to use their levy funds to access high-quality apprenticeship training and assessment. We currently have no plans to review what apprenticeship levy funds can be spent on.
We have set out our plans to improve the working of the apprenticeship levy in England in our Skills for Jobs white paper. We are making apprenticeships more flexible so that they work better for employers from all sectors, and we are enabling large employers to make greater use of their levy funds by improving and simplifying the process of transferring funds to other employers, including small employers who do not pay the levy.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the remit of the proposed review of foster care legislation to include foster carer's employment status.
Answered by Vicky Ford
‘Foster Care in England’, the 2017 independent review of foster care, was clear that the current legislative framework is fit for purpose: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foster-care-in-england. The reviewers did not recommend a change to the current employment status of foster carers. Their assessment was consistent with that of the Education Select Committee in determining that whilst there could be improvement in the respect and value shown to foster carers, in recognition of the invaluable role they play in Children’s Social Care and the lives of some of our most vulnerable children, this would not necessarily be achieved by becoming employees of fostering agencies: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmeduc/340/340.pdf. As a result, we have no immediate intention to revise the foster care legislation to that effect.
In our response, ‘Foster Better Outcomes’ (2018), we committed to considering where changes could be made to the statutory guidance to strengthen and clarify issues around support for foster carers and to assess whether the National Minimum Standards for Foster Care should be replaced by Quality Standards: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fostering-better-outcomes. We are committed to undertaking this work and will engage fully with the sector when we do so.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission has made an assessment of the potential merits of hon. Members wearing face masks or face coverings upon return to physical Parliamentary proceedings; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Pete Wishart
The Commission is led by the current Government advice on the use of face masks and coverings.
Advice from Public Health England has been considered which states that face coverings may be beneficial in places where it is hard to follow and maintain social distancing measures e.g. on public transport. Face coverings are not a replacement for social distancing and regular handwashing which remain the most important actions. As hon. Members can maintain social distancing and have easy access to handwashing facilities or hand sanitiser, it was concluded that face coverings were not necessary.
A review of this decision was carried out on 3 June and concluded that the advice did not need to be updated in line with current government guidance.
Although not considered necessary it is an MP’s choice if they do want to wear a face covering on the Parliamentary estate.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of potential changes in the number of university enrolments at Scottish universities among overseas (a) undergraduates and (b) postgraduates as a result of the implementation of the proposed immigration system.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
EU and non-EU students make an invaluable contribution to the whole of the UK’s higher education sector, socially, culturally and financially. This is why the UK Government will continue to welcome international students, working towards the ambition set out in our International Education Strategy, to host 600,000 international students per year by 2030.
The latest Higher Education Statistics Agency data shows that there are 58,000 international students enrolled in Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), an increase of 7% from 2017/18. The number of EU-domiciled students enrolled at Scottish HEIs has remained relatively stable since 2017/18 (decreasing by 0.5%). The number of non-EU-domiciled students enrolled at Scottish HEIs has increased by 12% since 2017/18. Undergraduate and postgraduate students will be covered by the points-based immigration system. This will improve on the current system by simplifying and streamlining the student route for both students and sponsors.
To ensure the UK higher education sector remains internationally attractive, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the new Graduate Route in September 2019. This will offer an opportunity for international students who have passed their degree to stay and work in the UK for two years post-study.
This announcement enables higher education providers to recruit for the 2020/21 academic year on the basis that their students will be eligible for the graduate route, and ensures that all existing students who meet the requirements, and have Tier 4 leave at the point that the route is introduced will be able to benefit. Education in Scotland is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential effect of the Government's proposed immigration legislation on tertiary education.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Department remains closely engaged with the Home Office around the future immigration system, its design and its impact on tertiary education.
Officials are involved in a number of cross-Whitehall meetings on system design, and attend the Education Sector Forum where the sector shares their views directly with the Home Office.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to introduce workers' rights and protections for foster carers classed as self-employed; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Department for Education has policy responsibility for fostering and foster parents. We have no plans to issue a statement on the employment status of foster parents.
I refer the hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk to the answer I gave on 7 January 2020 to Question 333.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to introduce workers' rights and protections for foster carers who are classed as self-employed.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
In England, the purpose of foster care is to provide children with the chance of a family life when they cannot be cared for by their birth parents.
Foster care is a devolved matter and the agreement that foster carers in England have with fostering service providers, including local authorities, sets out how they carry out their role. This is, however, not a contract of employment or a contract to perform work, which would be a necessary requirement for someone to be classed as either an employee or a worker.
The Children’s Act 1989 (Vol. 4: Fostering Services) and subsequent statutory guidance sets out strong safeguards to protect foster parents from unfair treatment, including the requirement for fostering services to have a complaints procedure, whistle blowing policy, and for foster parents to have the right to review by the Independent Review Mechanism. Fostering Better Outcomes (2018) sets out the government’s ambitions and commitments to improve the wider support available for foster parents in England. There are no plans to reclassify the employment status of foster carers to limb (b) workers.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will reclassify the employment status of foster carers to limb (b) workers.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
In England, the purpose of foster care is to provide children with the chance of a family life when they cannot be cared for by their birth parents.
Foster care is a devolved matter and the agreement that foster carers in England have with fostering service providers, including local authorities, sets out how they carry out their role. This is, however, not a contract of employment or a contract to perform work, which would be a necessary requirement for someone to be classed as either an employee or a worker.
The Children’s Act 1989 (Vol. 4: Fostering Services) and subsequent statutory guidance sets out strong safeguards to protect foster parents from unfair treatment, including the requirement for fostering services to have a complaints procedure, whistle blowing policy, and for foster parents to have the right to review by the Independent Review Mechanism. Fostering Better Outcomes (2018) sets out the government’s ambitions and commitments to improve the wider support available for foster parents in England. There are no plans to reclassify the employment status of foster carers to limb (b) workers.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason foster carers are classed as self-employed rather than employed.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
In England, the purpose of foster care is to provide children with the chance of a family life when they cannot be cared for by their birth parents.
Foster care is a devolved matter and the agreement that foster carers in England have with fostering service providers, including local authorities, sets out how they carry out their role. This is, however, not a contract of employment or a contract to perform work, which would be a necessary requirement for someone to be classed as either an employee or a worker.
The Children’s Act 1989 (Vol. 4: Fostering Services) and subsequent statutory guidance sets out strong safeguards to protect foster parents from unfair treatment, including the requirement for fostering services to have a complaints procedure, whistle blowing policy, and for foster parents to have the right to review by the Independent Review Mechanism. Fostering Better Outcomes (2018) sets out the government’s ambitions and commitments to improve the wider support available for foster parents in England. There are no plans to reclassify the employment status of foster carers to limb (b) workers.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of foster carers and support workers of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have received the training on caring for those children that was commissioned to be delivered by ECPAT(UK) and the Refugee Council since 2016 in each local authority area.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Between November 2016 and February 2019, ECPAT(UK) and the Refugee Council have trained 2,086 foster carers and support workers on caring for the specialist safeguarding needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The training is equipping these carers with the skills they need to identify when a child is at risk of going missing to be onwards trafficked, of being exploited for economic, sexual, and criminal exploitation or of being exposed to radicalisation.
The information requested on the number of foster carers or support workers is not held centrally so we are unable to provide this as a proportion of the total foster carers and support workers.
Since 2016, recipients of the training have generally reported high levels of satisfaction with its quality. For the current tranche of training, 99% of those trained who provided feedback rated the training ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.