Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Institute for Public Policy Research report entitled Delivering a Childcare Guarantee, published on 6 December 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of that report's recommendations.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The report “Delivering a Childcare Guarantee” makes several recommendations that cover sustainable funding for childcare and early education, the sufficiency of the number of childcare places on offer to parents, and our investment in the early years workforce. Getting this right is fundamentally important for parents and children, and we are looking at all options to improve the cost, flexibility and availability of childcare, and crucially, outcomes for children.
The department has spent over £3.5 billion in each of the past three years on early education entitlements to support families with the cost of childcare. At the Spending Review 2021, we announced additional funding for the early years entitlements of £160 million in 2022/23, £180 million in 2023/24 and £170 million in 2024/25, compared to the 2021/22 financial year. For 2023/24, we are investing an additional £20 million, on top of the additional £180 million already announced, to help support providers at a national level with additional costs associated with the national living wage.
The department is not currently planning to extend our free early education entitlements. We remain committed to supporting working parents through a range of childcare offers, including Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare, which are available to working parents of children from age 0.
The department is supporting parents to access the childcare they need through the ‘right to request’, which enables a parent to request that the school their child attends considers establishing wraparound and/or holiday childcare provision, if they are not already doing so. Schools must respond to these requests and should not refuse them without a reasonable justification. The government is also investing up to £30 million to continue our national school breakfast programme until July 2024, supporting up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas. The programme offers free nutritious breakfasts to children from low-income families, to support their attainment, wellbeing, and readiness to learn.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England, and if a local authority raises concerns about sufficiency issues we will, of course, support it with any specific requirements. We are currently seeking to procure a contract that will provide support to local authorities who are seeking to improve their ability to fulfil their childcare sufficiency duties.
Finally, we recognise that workforce recruitment and retention are key issues for the early years sector. The majority of the sector is made up of private, voluntary and independent organisations who set their own rates of pay. However, we acknowledge the concerns raised by the sector regarding the perceived impact of salary rates. The department is working with the sector to build our understanding of the workforce situation, and how we might support providers in this area.
The government is already providing a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to focus on the development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children and help to address existing recruitment and retention challenges. We are funding a range of programmes, including additional funding for graduate level specialist training which leads to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years SENCO qualification.
Childminders are an important part of the early years workforce and the childcare market more widely, providing flexible, high-quality and affordable childcare that many parents both want and need. We have announced a set of measures to support childminders and boost their numbers. More information about this will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that agricultural expertise is represented in government agencies.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We recognise that knowledge of agricultural sectors and skills is important to support the sector effectively. We ensure this through the staff we recruit, the appointments we make and how we devise and deliver policy.
Through our reforms to farming policy we have involved over 3,000 farmers in so-called 'tests and trials' and have over 800 farmers helping us pilot the Sustainable Farming Incentive routinely feeding in their insights and experiences. We continue to step up our partnership with the farming community through our co-design groups, which draw on industry knowledge to recommend improvements to Defra schemes. Over 1,000 people in farming volunteered to take part, including beef, sheep and cereal farmers.
Public appointments are promoted to relevant sectors via our social media channels and through stakeholder engagement. Defra works closely with Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs) to recruit Board Members with relevant skills and expertise. This has included specifically recruiting from the agriculture sector for the Boards of the Environment Agency; Natural England; Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board; Forestry Commission; and the National Park Authorities.
In accordance with the principles of the Partnerships between Departments and ALBs: Code of Good Practice, Defra has an agreed Framework Document with each of its key Executive Agencies setting out the broad framework in which they will operate. As part of such arrangements, the ALB is responsible for the recruitment, retention and motivation of its people ensuring they are encouraged to acquire the appropriate professional, management and other expertise to achieve their organisational objectives.
The Rural Payments Agency recognises the importance of agricultural expertise in the delivery of its services. For instance, it has a number of activities to capture insight which include: regular engagement with farming bodies and associations; the creation in 2022 of a farmer panel with over 750 members; learning from feedback directly received from farmers in their day to day dealings with the agency; and direct engagement with farmers through a series of face to face events all of which are improving the service and the farmer experience of dealing with government.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has significant areas of expertise related to farming and agriculture: veterinary and animal health officers (livestock health and welfare), plant health, marketing of produce, egg marketing, international trade of plants, livestock and animal by-products, disease outbreak and control, scientific expertise of farm animal diseases. APHA has run recruitment campaigns for veterinary and scientific resource and plant health inspectors, has various apprenticeship schemes and specific learning and development for the various professions. APHA also collaborates with academia and has an Academic Board to support further scientific education and qualifications.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has a range of experienced employees to ensure veterinary medicines for agricultural use are used safely and responsibly. This includes veterinary assessors and inspectors, as well as specific teams (such as the Antimicrobial Resistance and Residues Teams) who engage with stakeholders from across the agricultural sector to ensure compliance with the Veterinary Medicines Regulations and to inform policy decisions.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to prevent (a) ambulance and (b) nursing strikes in Suffolk.
Answered by Will Quince
The independent pay review body process (PRB) is the established mechanism for determining pay uplifts in the public sector, including for staff working in the National Health Service (NHS).
The PRBs are made up of industry experts who carefully consider evidence submitted to them from a range of stakeholders, including government and trade unions. They base their recommendations on several factors including the economic context, cost of living, recruitment and retention, morale, and motivation of NHS staff. We carefully consider their reports when we receive them. For the pay settlement in 2022-23, we accepted their recommendations in full.
Ministers have met unions several times over recent months and we are clear that it is important that we keep talking about how together we can make the NHS a better place to work. We are in regular communication with NHS England about how they can support this, and reduce the likelihood of strike action.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government needs to take to end the industrial dispute in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The independent pay review body process (PRB) is the established mechanism for determining pay uplifts in the public sector, including for staff working in the National Health Service (NHS).
The PRBs are made up of industry experts who carefully consider evidence submitted to them from a range of stakeholders, including government and trade unions. They base their recommendations on several factors including the economic context, cost of living, recruitment and retention, morale, and motivation of NHS staff. We carefully consider their reports when we receive them. For the pay settlement in 2022-23, we accepted their recommendations in full.
Ministers have met unions several times over recent months and we are clear that it is important that we keep talking about how together we can make the NHS a better place to work. We are in regular communication with NHS England about how they can support this, and reduce the likelihood of strike action, too.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the recent NHS pay offer on NHS staff morale.
Answered by Will Quince
The independent Pay Review Body process is the established mechanism for determining pay increases in the public sector, including for National Health Service staff. In forming its recommendations, the Pay Review Bodies consider a range of evidence, including the cost of living, inflation, recruitment, retention, morale and value for the taxpayer. The Government accepted the recommendations for 2022/23 in full.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the value for money to the public purse of the Initial Teacher Training Market Review.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) reforms are a significant step in the delivery of the Department’s programme to create a world class teacher development system and transform the support teachers receive at every stage of their career. 179 providers have been accredited to deliver ITT from September 2024, following a rigorous accreditation process designed to drive up the quality and consistency of ITT leading to Qualified Teacher Status. These providers cover all regions of the country and include new entrants to the market.
Safeguarding teacher supply is a key priority. The Department will continually monitor provision levels to ensure that there are sufficient ITT places to meet teacher recruitment targets. The reforms aim to ensure every trainee experiences high quality and coherent ITT programmes.
The accreditation process concluded in September 2022 and was followed by an appeals process, which concluded in December 2022. The Department does not intend to run any further accreditation rounds before the first delivery of reformed ITT in September 2024.
The Department expects the next round of accreditation to take place during the 2025/26 academic year, after the reforms have embedded into the system. The Department will continue to work with the high quality providers who have been accredited to ensure that sufficient training places are available in any areas of concern.
The Department is working with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure sufficient ITT places across the country from the 2024/25 academic year. The Department is focusing on utilising local knowledge and relationships as well as prioritising a sector led approach to sufficiency. This includes working with a range of sector stakeholders to ensure a wide range of views are represented, including those of Universities Council for The Education of Teachers, The National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, and different Higher Education Institutions representative groups.
The Department is actively encouraging partnership and expansions in areas which may have fewer providers following the accreditation process. Some providers have indicated that positive discussions are underway. To support these partnership conversations, the Department published guidance on 12 December and confirmed that funding will be available to support with the costs of developing partnerships in key regions. The guidance can be accessed at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1123075/Initial_teacher_training__ITT__-_forming_partnerships.pdf.
The Department is clear that implementing these changes now, will give all trainees across the country access to the highest quality ITT provision. A value for money assessment of the ITT Market Review was completed and published in 2022 as part of the accounting officer assessment for the ITT Reform programme. This concluded that the programme represented good value for money for the Exchequer.
Officials regularly meet with sector bodies and stakeholders that fulfil important roles and have an interest in teacher training and the recruitment and retention of teachers.
This engagement includes regular meetings with Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers and representative bodies such as the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) and the National School Based-Teacher Trainers (NASBTT).
In our Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (2019), the Department committed to reviewing the ITT market to support it to work more efficiently and effectively. Throughout the ITT Market Review, officials engaged with UCET, NASBTT and other representatives of teacher training providers including meeting with Russell Group universities involved in teacher training.
The Department is also focusing on utilising local knowledge and relationships as well as prioritising a sector-led approach to sufficiency, working closely with experts including UCET, NASBTT and Teaching School Hubs Council. The Department will continue to work with sector stakeholders to help support targeted provider expansion and partnerships.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of impact of a pay settlement on NHS staff retention.
Answered by Will Quince
The independent Pay Review Body process is the established mechanism for determining pay increases in the public sector, including for National Health Service staff. In forming its recommendations, the Pay Review Bodies consider a range of evidence, including the cost of living, inflation, recruitment, retention, morale and value for the taxpayer.
The 2020 NHS People Plan sets out actions to improve staff retention and all NHS trusts have specific retention programmes, including focusing on career development and training pathways to retain staff.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of below-inflation pay rises on the level of staff vacancies in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The Pay Review Body (PRB) process is the established mechanism for determining pay uplifts in the public sector, including for staff working in the NHS.
In formulating their recommendations, the Review Bodies carefully consider evidence from a wide range of stakeholders, including NHS system partners and trade unions. In reaching their recommendations the independent PRBs consider a number of factors, including recruitment, retention, morale and motivation, alongside affordability and the economic context, including inflation.
Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the number of prison staff declined between 2009 and 2017; if so, by what percentage the number declined; and whether any such decline has since been redressed.
Answered by Lord Bellamy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The number of public sector prison staff declined from 46,889 FTE as of 31 March 2009 to 31,232 FTE as of 31 March 2017. This was a decline of 15,657 (33%).
Since then, the number of public sector prison staff has increased to stand at 35,575 FTE as of 30 September 2022; an increase of 14% since March 2017.
Over the last few years, the MoJ has invested in a number of initiatives to improve the recruitment and retention of operational and non-Operational staff across the prison estate. Whilst we face some difficulties in areas of the country where labour markets are particularly challenging, we continue to deliver recruitment marketing campaigns on a variety of channels for all prisons.
The recent pay award has been seen as a positive move to help retain and recruit new staff. We will be monitoring the impact of the 2022/23 pay award which reflects a significant investment to uplift and reform the prison pay structure. We are continuing to use localised market supplements to increase prison officer pay in 18 sites.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the benefits of moving to a system of local pay bargaining within the NHS, whilst preserving a national pension scheme.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent Pay Review Body process is the established mechanism for determining pay increases in the public sector, including for National Health Service staff, outside of negotiating pay and contract reform deals. Terms and conditions for NHS staff are agreed nationally through collective agreements with trade unions. The Department is represented on the NHS Staff Council for Agenda for Change staff and at the Joint Negotiating Committees for medical staff.
Flexibility exists within the national terms and conditions for employers to use local recruitment and retention premia. We understand that these flexibilities are seldom used by employers locally due the administrative process, complying with legislation on equal pay and the risk of exacerbating recruitment, retention and pay issues with neighbouring trusts and within the local labour market.