Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an estimate of the potential impact on (a) the apprenticeship budget and (b) apprenticeship starts of permitting levy-payers to spend (i) 25% and (ii) 50% of their apprenticeship levy accounts on non-apprenticeship training.
Answered by Robert Halfon
In the last two financial years, an average 98% of the English apprenticeships budget was spent. The apprenticeships budget in England is ring-fenced for apprenticeships only and is used to fund training and assessment for all employers, both those who pay the levy and those who do not. It is therefore important that the apprenticeships budget remains ring-fenced for apprenticeships to ensure continued affordability of the programme and to ensure that employers of all sizes, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not pay the levy, can continue to access high-quality apprenticeships training.
If employers were able to use 25% of their levy funds for non-apprenticeships training, the department estimates that this would create an additional cost of up to approximately £700 million per annum. Allowing employers to use up to 50% of their funds for non-apprenticeship training would increase this cost to up to £1.5 billion per annum. Without making additional funding available to support this flexible use of levy funds, the department estimates that this would require a significant reduction in new apprenticeship starts to approximately 140,000 per annum. This is around a 60% decrease on the 350,000 apprenticeship starts reported for the 2021/22 academic year.
The apprenticeship levy was introduced to increase employer investment in high-quality apprenticeships training, and with the intention that large employers’ levy contributions would fund access to apprenticeships for all employers. The Government wants to support SMEs across England to offer more apprenticeship opportunities and so in April we removed the restriction on the number of apprentices SMEs can recruit. The department continues to pay for 95% of the apprentice training costs for SMEs, rising to 100% for the smallest employers recruiting apprentices under the age of 19.
Employers can already choose to spend their levy funds on any of the 680 plus apprenticeship standards available, or to transfer 25% of their funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses. They can also benefit from a range of other government-funded skills programmes, including skills bootcamps, higher technical qualifications and T Level industry placements.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to announce the schools selected from the third round of the School Rebuilding Programme.
Answered by Will Quince
On 12 July 2022, the department announced the next round of 61 schools to be included in the school rebuilding programme. A list of these schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-2022-to-2023-approved-schools/school-rebuilding-programme-2022-to-2023-prioritised-schools.
The department is assessing all other nominations and we intend to make another announcement later this year to confirm additional schools, selecting up to 300 in total in the 2022/23 financial year.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future provision of funding for Music Education Hubs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Music Education Hubs have a vital role to play not only in core school music but also ensuring our children have access to all the benefits of a wider musical education through instrumental lessons and ensembles. They have acted swiftly and innovatively to support schools through the COVID-19 outbreak, including the continuation of continuing professional development to classroom teachers.
Following the one year Spending Review settlement announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 15 December 2020, the Department will continue to fund Music Education Hubs for the financial year 2021-22. Funding has been confirmed with Arts Council England and all Music Education Hubs organisations have recently been updated on this matter. An announcement on the national funding will be made shortly, followed by further details on specific funding allocations issued to individual hubs.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Year 2 phonics screening test will be taken during the autumn term.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In the 2020/21 academic year, it is a statutory requirement for schools to administer a past version of the phonics screening check for Year 2 pupils during the second half of the 2020 autumn term.
The autumn assessment will ensure that pupils who need extra support to decode phonics are identified. Those who meet the expected phonics standard will not be required to repeat the assessment. Those who do not meet the expected standard will be expected to retake the statutory check in June 2021, alongside current Year 1 pupils.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to amend the assessment criteria for SATs due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department acknowledges current concerns raised in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. It recognises that pupils have missed a critical period of their education due to school closures in the 2019/20 academic year and further disruption in the 2020/21 academic year. As a consequence, the Department is planning that primary assessments will take place in the 2020/21 academic year as a test of the national curriculum, with the standard unchanged. This will not only allow better targeted support to those who need it most but will also ensure that schools have the information they need to help inform ongoing teaching for the pupils affected by school closures.