Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding has been made available to further education colleges since their reclassification as public sector organisations in November 2022.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is investing an additional £185 million in the 2023/24 financial year and £285 million in the 2024/25 financial year to drive forward skills delivery in the further education sector. This funding is to help colleges and other providers to address their key priorities, particularly tackling recruitment and retention issues in high-value subject areas that are critical to the economy.
The above investment is in addition to the £125 million of funding made available in the 2023/24 financial year to boost the national 16 to 19 funding rate and subject-specific funding.
In the 2023/24 academic year, the department is applying a 2.2% increase to the final earnings for all adult education budget (AEB) formula-funded provision, excluding associated learner and learning support. In addition, the department is applying a 20% boost on top of earnings for all AEB formula-funded provision in six sector subject areas, including: Engineering, Manufacturing Technologies, Transport Operations and Maintenance, Building and Construction, ICT for Practitioners, and Mathematics and Statistics.
The department will make an initial downpayment over the next two years ahead of introducing the Advanced British Standard, with funding benefiting further education as follows:
- An additional investment of around £150 million each year to support those who do not pass mathematics and English GCSE at 16 to gain these qualifications. This will particularly benefit further education colleges, who play a vital role in helping close the attainment gap by 19.
- An increase in funding to colleges and schools so they can deliver maths to more students aged over 16, increasing the Core Maths and Advanced Maths Premium and investing in a digital platform for tutoring in Core Maths. In total this is £60 million of additional funding for maths education over the next two years of which further education institutions will potentially be able to benefit from the Core Maths Premium and Advanced Maths Premium.
- To improve the recruitment and retention of teachers of key shortage subjects around £100 million will be invested each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium and expand it to cover all further education colleges. All teachers who are in the first five years of their career, teaching shortage subjects and working in disadvantaged schools and all further education colleges, will be paid up to £6,000 per year tax-free.
Since reclassification, £884 million of capital funding has been confirmed for further education colleges and designated institutions to fund condition improvement, expansion and the provision of specialist equipment and facilities. Some capital programmes have wider eligibility to also include sixth form colleges and other statutory sixth form providers.
The department has also opened the college capital loans scheme in April to enable capital projects reliant on commercial borrowing to proceed as planned.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how they intend to integrate advanced technologies and data analytics into the NHS to improve patient care and operational efficiency.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In February 2023, the Government published its first strategy for Medical Technology, outlining the priority to ensure patients have fast and safe access to the most innovative technology that deliver the best outcomes. We are implementing solutions to streamline the innovation adoption pathway: from providing clear signals to industry on the innovation we need, to reforming regulation, comparative assessment, and improved procurement. A Copy of the strategy is attached.
This will complement the investment in upgrading the analytical capability of the National Health Service, through the provision of the Federated Data Platform, which will allow trusts and integrated care boards to access software which allow them to draw together diverse operational data sets, to improve outcomes for patients. The federation aspect means that every trust and integrated care board will have access to their own version of the data platform, over which they will have complete control.
In addition, a single combined programme called ‘Data Capabilities’ is underway bringing together the several strategic strands of transformation. The programme is designed to achieve a strong data and technological architecture to enable the development of high quality and efficient data flows. Significantly it will also ensure that confidential patient data can be collected, processed, deployed, and disseminated securely. This will improve the quality, availability, and interoperability of data to support multiple use cases in health and social care.
The combined aims of the Data Capabilities programme are to improve the timeliness and quality of data collection, changing the way we collect data to reduce burden on the frontline; ensure the highest standards are applied to the safe handling of patient data; harmonise the data and technical architectures of the main data platforms used in NHS England so that data is being collected, curated and made available in the most secure and efficient way; expand the range, quality, and utility of data, including linked data assets; provide appropriate and timely access for users including providers, commissioners, policy makers, researchers, and patients to support the four use cases of data, namely Direct Care, population health and proactive care, planning oversight and service improvement, and research and innovation.
The role data professionals play in the health sector is vital and we fully recognise the need to ensure that this important part of the workforce receives the support it needs. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) set out our ambition to ensure that the wider workforce has the skills it needs to deliver care in future.
NHS England also intends to publish a workforce plan that will encompass the information, digital, data and technology professions. This plan will supplement the actions in the LTWP and ensure that, collectively, we are taking the actions that will put the whole NHS workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Institutes of Technology have been created, what courses they provide, and how many pupils currently study at the Institutes.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is investing up to £300 million to establish a comprehensive network of 21 Institutes of Technology across England.
They bring together our world class higher and further education sectors, with local businesses – to develop a pipeline of local talent to address local skills needs. Our IoTs work hand in glove with our Local Skills Improvement Plans. They specialise in delivering high-quality training and education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based subjects, helping to bridge a vital skills gap in our economy in sectors such as engineering and manufacturing, digital, and construction. Subjects and qualifications offered differ across the network as training is tailored and responsive to the needs of business in the areas they serve. Whilst offering a range of qualifications from Level 3 (T-levels) to Level 7 (master’s degrees), they specialise in higher-level technical skills at Level 4/5, including degree apprenticeships, Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) and professional training.
The latest data the department has on the number of students studying at Institutes of Technology comes from the cohort as of the end of the 2022/23 academic year, which was 14,231. This number of students was across 15 Institutes of Technology that were open to learners at that time.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1812 on Defence: Employment, what steps he plans to take to help (a) upskill and (b) reskill workers in the defence sector to adapt to new technologies.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In the 2023 Defence Command Paper Refresh we committed to upskilling our people in digital, nuclear, space, cyber, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. We are already working with industry and academia to nurture a collaborative ecosystem and ensure we grow these skills nationally.
We are supporting skills development for now and the future across major programmes and supply chains that stretch right across the UK.
For example, in the air sector, the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is driving the development of entirely new industrial processes and blending digital twinning - open architecture, AI, and robotic engineering - to create a truly cutting-edge capability.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her Department's plan is to ensure sufficient workforce capacity for the community diagnostic centre programme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has recently published a Long Term Workforce Plan which sets out long term workforce projections, including for the diagnostic workforce. The Government has backed the plan with over £2.4 billion to fund additional education and training places over five years.
NHS England is committed to ensuring that there is sufficient workforce capacity, including for community diagnostic centres, to enable workforce expansion with the right skills and roles, in the right locations and at the right time. This includes reliable recruitment routes to deliver the required uplift in staffing. Last year (2022/23) this resulted in over 4,300 new starters across the training pipeline for cancer and diagnostics.
Digital diagnostic investment this spending review period is anticipated to deliver a c.10% uplift in workforce productivity, which will free up diagnostic workforce capacity further.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps he has taken to support women and girls in South East Asia.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO will continue to defend the rights of women and girls, as set out in the International Women and Girls Strategy. As part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - UK Plan of Action, the UK announced two programmes this year to support women and girls in South East Asia. The first - the Supporting the Advancement of Girls' Education programme - will boost access to foundational learning and digital skills for the most marginalised. The second - the Women, Peace and Security in ASEAN programme - will strengthen expertise to implement regional and national policies which consider the impact on, and role of, women in conflict.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1812 on Defence: Employment, what the Defence and Security needs that he has identified are.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In the 2023 Defence Command Paper Refresh, the Government committed to addressing our most critical skills shortfalls, particularly in digital and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. We will upskill our own people in these areas, and in nuclear, space, and cyber, and work more closely with industry and academia to ensure we are growing those skills nationally.
The Academic Interface Workstream, which reports to the Defence Suppliers Forum People & Skills Steering Group, is enabling the Defence Enterprise to acquire the right skills, right place, right time through an integrated (common voice) and collaborative (collective action) approach between Policy Makers, Education Providers, Student Bodies, Professional Bodies and Hiring Organisations. In partnership with the Institution of Engineering & Technology, the Working Group is gaining a clear view of skills data and identify gaps and needs, to act as an honest broker and compile a demand signal.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the elective recovery taskforce's implementation plan, what steps her Department is taking to ensure equity in access for people who are unable to use (a) NHS Digital, (b) MyPlanned and (c) other online platforms relevant to healthcare.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In September 2023, NHS England published a framework for action on digital inclusion to help the system design and implement inclusive digital approaches and technologies, including actions to build digital skills and capability among patients and National Health Service staff. This covers all NHS digital platforms, including My Planned Care. Patients unable to use digital channels will continue to be able to access services via telephone and through face-to-face services. The elective recovery taskforce implementation plan will also ensure patients have the right to receive care at a provider of their choice.
Asked by: Hannah Bardell (Scottish National Party - Livingston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether staff in his Department are provided training on trauma (a) awareness and (b) prevention procedures.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP is committed to becoming a more Trauma Informed organisation. We have a dedicated programme which will integrate the six key pillars of the approach as defined by the Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (December, 2022) which are safety, trustworthiness, choice, empowerment, collaboration and cultural consideration. Our programme looks at these six pillars within the contexts of application to our colleagues, our customers, our culture, and the context of our interaction- whether that is a physical, telephony, digital or postal interaction. There is significant emphasis within the design of the programme regarding what more can be done to prevent trauma and re-traumatisation for both our customers and our colleagues. We are learning from best practice demonstrated by organisations such as NHS Education Scotland, Work Services Australia and the Wales ACES Hub to shape the future prioritisation of this work
With response to the query around training, we have begun the roll out of an introductory module into the Trauma Informed Approach for all colleagues which is the first in a suite of products and a long-term commitment to upskilling around the topic of trauma. This learning will be complimented by products and initiatives that will enable the skills learned to be embedded into the business-as-usual operations of the whole department.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any potential benefits of using artificial intelligence to develop skills for the workplace.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform society. The department wants to capitalise on the opportunities that technology, such as AI, presents for education, as well as addressing its risks and challenges.
When used appropriately, technology (including generative AI), has the potential to reduce workload across the education sector, and free up teachers’ time, allowing them to focus on delivering excellent teaching.
The department wants schools, colleges, universities and families to have digestible rigorous evidence on education technology products at their fingertips so that they can effectively choose and implement technology. This includes the use of generative AI in educational settings.
The department is building the evidence base for how generative AI is best used in education and learning from the experience and expertise of the sector. The department published the response to our call for evidence on generative AI in education on 28 November 2023. The department is working with Faculty Science Ltd in partnership and the National Institute of Teaching to run a Generative AI Hackathons project. The department has endowed the Education Endowment Foundation, an independent charity, with a further £137 million to encourage innovative and effective evidence-based teaching, including using technology.
The department is ensuring everyone has the essential digital skills they need to engage with modern technology. In August 2020, the department introduced a new digital entitlement to fully fund adults to study towards an essential digital skills qualification, up to Level 1, and from September 2023, digital functional skills qualifications. These qualifications give adults the essential digital skills they need to participate actively in modern day life, work and further study.
To support the UK’s development of AI talent, the department are creating 1000 new AI PhDs through Centres for Doctoral Training, with £117 million of government investment.