Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more women to join the defence workforce.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Armed Forces are committed to attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from the broadest diversity of skills and background, to reflect the society we serve. Women are an integral part of our Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence is taking action to ensure the Armed Forces support women to have full and thriving military careers - including reaching the very top ranks.
A Level of Ambition of 30% inflow of women by 2030 was announced in 2021, building on the content of the previously published Defence Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2030. This is both "stretching and challenging" and a clear statement that Defence wants to improve, recognises the mission critical value women bring and is creating conversations and driving improvement activities.
Defence has adopted almost all the recommendations from the Defence Committee’s 2021 report into Women in the Armed Forces, having tested them with the Service Women’s Networks – and in many cases taking them further. A further progress update will be provided to the Defence Committee on 14 November 2023. Notable recent progress includes:
In terms of the civilian workforce, a range of creative materials have been developed to advertise all the opportunities within the Defence Civil Service workforce. Products include real life experiences of our employees, , who work in roles across the Defence Estate, to showcase the diversity and inclusive nature of Defence. Recently, these products have been used to advertise National Inclusion Week specially for the Engineering Profession.
The majority of Civil Service roles are advertised offering flexible working opportunities, including job share. We operate an anonymous sift approach so that identifying characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and age are not available to be seen by the selection panel at the sift stage.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of rises in the cost of living on the uptake of extracurricular performing arts classes in (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) further and (d) higher education; and whether she is taking steps to increase engagement in the performing arts in (i) schools and (ii) other educational establishments.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state funded schools are required to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, and this includes promoting pupils' cultural development. The performing arts are a core part of the school curriculum and also supported through extracurricular activities to children and young people.
The Department regularly asks about pupil participation in extracurricular performing arts activities in ‘parent, pupil and learner panel’ surveys. In the most recent published wave in which the questions were asked (the November wave from the 2022/23 academic year), 19% of pupils reported that they had participated in extracurricular performing arts activities in that term. The Department will continue to monitor the uptake of performing arts and other extracurricular activities, and investigate reasons for any significant changes or trends.
An additional £1.6 billion in funding has been made available for 16-19 education between the 2021/22 and 2024/25 academic years. This includes an up-front cash boost which will see the rate of funding per student increase by over 8% in 2022/23.
The Department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year which have affected university students. In addition to the cost of living measures already announced, the Department discusses cost of living pressures that are affecting students in its regular meetings with stakeholders, including the Office for Students (OfS), Universities UK and other HE representative groups. The Department also consulted with the National Association of Student Money Advisers to understand the ongoing situation in relation to increased requests from students for hardship awards from their universities.
The Department will continue to spend around £115 million per annum on cultural education over three years, through its music, arts and heritage programmes. With the real terms per pupil increases to core school funding and the nearly £5 billion that has been announced for education recovery, schools will continue to have the flexibility to deliver a broad and ambitious curriculum and enrichment activities, including in arts and creative subjects.
The Department will be publishing a Cultural Education Plan in 2023, working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England. The Chair of the Expert Advisory Panel was announced last year, and other panel members will be announced in due course. The Plan will focus on how the Government can support access and participation in a wide range of arts subjects and activities, particularly for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and in underrepresented groups. It will also further support young people who wish to pursue careers in the creative, cultural, and heritage industries.
In addition, the Department wants to ensure that HE specialist providers, many of which specialise in arts provision, receive additional support, and that grant funding is used to effectively support students.
On 8 December 2022, the OfS published the list of successful HE providers who have been identified as world-leading specialists by the Specialist Provider Panel. The current list of world-leading specialist providers includes 13 providers specialising in the arts. This funding will help improve the diversity and quality of creative education provision available to students.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Commonwealth Games creative delivery team will ensure that content reflects diversity and avoids stereotypical imagery.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games ceremonies have been developed by a diverse group of some of the finest creative talents the UK has to offer. This consists of Iqbal Khan as Artistic Director; Maeve Clarke as Writer; Joshua ‘RTKal’ Holness as Music Director; Misty Buckley as Production Designer; Hamish Hamilton as Broadcast Director and Steven Knight CBE as Executive Producer.
They are bringing together some of the city’s most celebrated artists and promoting its emerging talent on a global stage. From Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi to vocalists Indigo Marshall and Gambini, they will welcome the Commonwealth to Birmingham and showcase the very best of the West Midlands and the whole of the UK to a global audience.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the make-up of the Commonwealth Games creative delivery team reflects the diversity of the UK.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games ceremonies have been developed by a diverse group of some of the finest creative talents the UK has to offer. This consists of Iqbal Khan as Artistic Director; Maeve Clarke as Writer; Joshua ‘RTKal’ Holness as Music Director; Misty Buckley as Production Designer; Hamish Hamilton as Broadcast Director and Steven Knight CBE as Executive Producer.
They are bringing together some of the city’s most celebrated artists and promoting its emerging talent on a global stage. From Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi to vocalists Indigo Marshall and Gambini, they will welcome the Commonwealth to Birmingham and showcase the very best of the West Midlands and the whole of the UK to a global audience.
Asked by: Baroness Benjamin (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the UK’s diversity will be reflected in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games ceremonies have been developed by a diverse group of some of the finest creative talents the UK has to offer. This consists of Iqbal Khan as Artistic Director; Maeve Clarke as Writer; Joshua ‘RTKal’ Holness as Music Director; Misty Buckley as Production Designer; Hamish Hamilton as Broadcast Director and Steven Knight CBE as Executive Producer.
They are bringing together some of the city’s most celebrated artists and promoting its emerging talent on a global stage. From Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi to vocalists Indigo Marshall and Gambini, they will welcome the Commonwealth to Birmingham and showcase the very best of the West Midlands and the whole of the UK to a global audience.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will issue guidance to initial teacher education accreditation providers to ensure that students are given the same information after submitting their application.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department’s teacher recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers regardless of their identity or background. We take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use. New ‘Bring It’ creative materials, introduced in January 2022 also strongly reflect the diversity of our young target audiences and the fact that this generation value diversity and want reassurance that teaching is for people like them.
Last year, Apply for Teacher Training, our new application service for initial teacher training (ITT) in England, was rolled out nationally. Apply has been designed to be as user-friendly as possible and has been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure it helps remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.
Apply for Teacher Training will also allow the department to collect more data, giving us greater insight into candidate behaviour and the behaviour of teacher training providers so that we can identify barriers and work to address them. The department will continue to work closely with ITT providers to explore, design and test new interventions to ensure teaching is an inclusive career that is open to candidates from all backgrounds.
This year, the department produced specific guidance for providers on how to treat candidates fairly during recruitment. This guidance is published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/treating-candidates-fairly-when-you-recruit-trainee-teachers.
As recommended by the independent review of the ITT market, all existing and new providers of ITT courses are required to undergo an accreditation process to demonstrate that, from September 2024, they will be able to meet the standard set by the new ITT Quality Requirements. The accreditation process is ongoing and the second application round will close on 27 June. All organisations that submit an application for accreditation as a provider of ITT are treated equitably, with applications assessed through an impartial process, by trained assessors.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure equity in the initial teacher education accreditation process for students.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department’s teacher recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers regardless of their identity or background. We take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use. New ‘Bring It’ creative materials, introduced in January 2022 also strongly reflect the diversity of our young target audiences and the fact that this generation value diversity and want reassurance that teaching is for people like them.
Last year, Apply for Teacher Training, our new application service for initial teacher training (ITT) in England, was rolled out nationally. Apply has been designed to be as user-friendly as possible and has been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure it helps remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.
Apply for Teacher Training will also allow the department to collect more data, giving us greater insight into candidate behaviour and the behaviour of teacher training providers so that we can identify barriers and work to address them. The department will continue to work closely with ITT providers to explore, design and test new interventions to ensure teaching is an inclusive career that is open to candidates from all backgrounds.
This year, the department produced specific guidance for providers on how to treat candidates fairly during recruitment. This guidance is published here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/treating-candidates-fairly-when-you-recruit-trainee-teachers.
As recommended by the independent review of the ITT market, all existing and new providers of ITT courses are required to undergo an accreditation process to demonstrate that, from September 2024, they will be able to meet the standard set by the new ITT Quality Requirements. The accreditation process is ongoing and the second application round will close on 27 June. All organisations that submit an application for accreditation as a provider of ITT are treated equitably, with applications assessed through an impartial process, by trained assessors.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her announcement on 17 January 2022 that BBC funding will be frozen for the next two years, whether she will take steps to protect funding for programming in the UK's minority languages.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Government has a strong record of demonstrating its commitment to minority language broadcasting to ensure that our broadcasting sector services all audiences of the UK nations and regions.
The BBC’s Royal Charter is an important way of delivering on this. One of the BBC's Public Purposes is to "reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom". The BBC also has a general duty under Diversity to "support the regional and minority languages of the United Kingdom through its output and services and through partnerships with other organisations".
I recognise the incredibly valuable contribution that our minority language broadcasters make, and the licence fee settlement will continue to support these contributions by providing the BBC with billions in annual public funding, allowing it to deliver its mission and public purposes and to continue doing what it does best.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the societal value for young people of religious education; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government firmly believes that religious education (RE) is important. Good quality RE is essential in developing children’s knowledge of British values and traditions, and those of other countries. RE is a vital part of fostering understanding among different faiths and beliefs, which is why it is a compulsory subject for all state-funded schools up to the age of 18.
Department officials engage regularly with key RE stakeholders, including the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education as the main subject association for RE in England.
When teaching RE, schools should consider how their curriculum can develop social skills and empathy, as well as equip children and young people with the skills for living and working in a diverse society. For older pupils, RE should also focus on developing skills that are useful in a wide range of careers and adult life, and in particular the skills of critical enquiry, creative problem-solving and communication in a variety of media.
In school life, RE can develop and nuance the skills required for other parts of the school curriculum such as history, citizenship, and personal, social, health and economic education.
RE is an important subject, developing an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society, as well as serving to inform their own values and behaviour. RE can also contribute to pupils’ personal development and well-being by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society. It is an important contributor to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, which schools are required to facilitate as per the Education Act 2002.
Studying RE can also serve to improve community cohesion, providing a key context to develop young people’s understanding and appreciation of diversity, to promote shared values and to challenge racism and discrimination.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
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 the value offered in terms of skills for young people by the subject matter of religious education; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government firmly believes that religious education (RE) is important. Good quality RE is essential in developing children’s knowledge of British values and traditions, and those of other countries. RE is a vital part of fostering understanding among different faiths and beliefs, which is why it is a compulsory subject for all state-funded schools up to the age of 18.
Department officials engage regularly with key RE stakeholders, including the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education as the main subject association for RE in England.
When teaching RE, schools should consider how their curriculum can develop social skills and empathy, as well as equip children and young people with the skills for living and working in a diverse society. For older pupils, RE should also focus on developing skills that are useful in a wide range of careers and adult life, and in particular the skills of critical enquiry, creative problem-solving and communication in a variety of media.
In school life, RE can develop and nuance the skills required for other parts of the school curriculum such as history, citizenship, and personal, social, health and economic education.
RE is an important subject, developing an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society, as well as serving to inform their own values and behaviour. RE can also contribute to pupils’ personal development and well-being by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society. It is an important contributor to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, which schools are required to facilitate as per the Education Act 2002.
Studying RE can also serve to improve community cohesion, providing a key context to develop young people’s understanding and appreciation of diversity, to promote shared values and to challenge racism and discrimination.