Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential efficacy of the use of (a) exoskeletons and (b) wearable robotics as a technical aid to help prevent musculoskeletal disorders; and whether the Government is taking steps to promote such technologies.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been currently made on use of exoskeletons or wearable robotics as a technical aid, and NHS England is not currently exploring the use of exoskeletons or wearable robotics within their musculoskeletal work.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is developing medical technologies guidance on GaitSmart, which is looking at its use for people at risk for falling. Gaitsmart is a sensor-based digital technology that monitors limb movement, for gait and mobility issues. This guidance is due to be published this month.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to respond to the high level of transport poverty in rural areas, as outlined in the report Getting the measure of transport poverty published by the Social Market Foundation on 15 November.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government understands that the transport needs of communities in rural areas differ from those in urban environments for a variety of reasons including demographics, lower population density and travel distances.
The Department for Transport published its ‘Future of Transport: supporting rural transport innovation’ guidance in early October, and will now work to implement its pledges, such as working closer with local leadership to help deploy and scale innovative new technologies in rural communities. As part of this guide, the Department is making up to £3 million of funding available for rural innovation. This will help explore innovative solutions to long-standing issues, such as loneliness and isolation, poor access to services and economically challenging business cases for rural transport services.
The Department is also providing considerable support for bus and other transport services, including in rural areas. Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities, including Hertfordshire, in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone. We have also announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025.
More widely, in May, we announced a long-term approach to protect and improve bus services backed by an additional £300 million from July 2023 until April 2025. £140 million of this funding will go to bus operators to support services, and the remaining £160 million will go to Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to protect and enhance bus services, and support local fares initiatives.
The Government is investing nearly £600 million to deliver a £2 fare cap on single bus fares in England outside London to help passengers save on their regular travel costs, which the Prime Minister recently announced would be extended until the end of 2024.
On 4 October, as part of Network North, we announced a further £1 billion from redirected HS2 funding to level up bus services in the North and Midlands, helping to make them more frequent, reliable, cheaper, and easier to use.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Degree Apprenticeship places have been available in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Degree apprenticeships provide people with high-quality training and are important in supporting productivity, social mobility and widening participation in higher education and employment.
The department has developed an employer-led apprenticeship system with over 5,000 employers. Today there are over 170 degree-level apprenticeships in wide range of career routes. Employers can choose how many degree-level apprentices they take-on each year. The table below shows the number of people starting on degree-level apprenticeships in each year since 2014. The department has seen year-on-year growth of degree-level apprenticeships with over 195,000 starts since their introduction and we are providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision, on top of the department’s £8 million investment in the 2022/23 financial year.
Academic year | Degree level apprenticeship starts |
2014/15 | 100 |
2015/16 | 780 |
2016/17 | 1,700 |
2017/18 | 10,880 |
2018/19 | 22,480 |
2019/20 | 30,460 |
2020/21 | 39,200 |
2021/22 | 43,240 |
2022/23 | 46,800 |
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Higher Education providers she has visited in 2023.
Answered by Robert Halfon
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, the departmental ministerial team, and a range of officials routinely engage the sector, including universities, representative bodies and mission groups. In 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, alongside meetings and attendance at sector events, has visited Northumbria University, Exeter University, Queen Mary University and the following colleges with higher education provision: Mid Kent College, City of Liverpool College, Stafford College and Darlington College.
The government highly values our world class higher education system, recognising its role as a catalyst for economic growth and innovation, and as a crucial foundation for fostering social mobility by empowering individuals with the essential skills for success.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of pavement parking on levels of social isolation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is fully aware that pavement parking can pose problems for pedestrians, particularly for people with sight or mobility impairments. Local authorities already have powers to restrict pavement parking, but the Department has consulted on additional measures to help councils tackle this problem. The Department has not had recent discussions with Gateshead Council, but the consultation was open to all local authorities.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing accredited STEM education for new armed forces recruits under the age of 18.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Defence makes significant investment in STEM-accredited opportunities for our people, including to the under-18 cohort, because we believe that this will enable us to create high-performing and technologically astute personnel with the skills and agility required for a modernised Armed Forces. We also recognise that by investing wholeheartedly in our recruits and apprentices, who come from all walks of life, the Armed Forces are an engine for social mobility and productivity for the nation.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy offers a well-developed STEM route for 16- to 18-year-olds which, irrespective of their prior qualifications, can lead to a fully funded degree within their career. All engineer pathways start with a Level 2 or 3 apprenticeship aligned to the future role and will include maths and English teaching as required. Alongside the nationally accredited engineering opportunities, which also count toward chartered status with the Institute of Engineering and Technology, they will be able to achieve broadening qualifications in areas such as leadership and management.
Army
The Army invests significantly in skills, education and training, including skills-enhancing learning and development pathways for all, including our under-18 cohort. The Army’s Foundation College at Harrogate offers opportunity for under-18s to study for STEM accredited education through study towards maths Level 2 qualifications and up to Level 3 qualification in Information and Communication Technology. As the UK’s top apprenticeship employer for the third year running, and the largest employer of apprenticeships in England, the Army provides further opportunity for under-18s on entry to their Initial Trade Training – including STEM. The Army has over 15,500 soldier-apprentices on programme at any one time and opportunities in most trade sectors including engineering, manufacturing, logistics and construction.
Royal Air Force (RAF)
The RAF has only a very small number of under-18 recruits who undergo Phase 1 training (conducted at RAF Halton). The Aviator Training Academy (AvTA) at RAF Halton does not deliver any bespoke STEM training to under-18s on the Basic Recruit Training Course as there are no training objectives related directly to STEM. The AvTA does, however, deliver Level 1 and Level 2 maths after basic recruit training to those that need it. Those recruits who are under 18 and progress onto Phase 2 training within the RAF Engineering Profession, will by its very nature receive significant exposure to STEM. The RAF recognises this and awards all recruits that successfully complete their profession training with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department made an assessment of the impact of the rurality of each council area on the level of funding provided for each bus service improvement plan.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises the importance of transport provision in rural areas and is committed to finding solutions which ensure that local communities in these areas have viable and improved transport services.
The Government is supporting LTAs and bus operators with the provision of local bus services. Over £1 billion was allocated to 34 Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) in the first phase of funding for LTAs to deliver their BSIPs. All other LTAs received funding from the £160m BSIP+ fund announced in May 2023. On 4 October Government announced new funding of over £1bn from redirected HS2 funding to levelling up bus services across the North and Midlands, with £150m allocated for 2024/25. This funding has been provided to both urban and rural areas (e.g. Shropshire).
We have also announced that a new uplift of 60% will be added to Community Transport Operators’ (CTOs) Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) claims until 31 March 2025. On top of this, we have extended the £2 fare cap, which includes Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) funded through the Rural Mobility Fund (RMF), until the end of 2024, meaning we are investing nearly £600 million in total to cap bus fares.
LTAs in receipt of BSIP and/or BSIP+ funding may use the funding to target it on the actions that they – and local operators through their Enhanced Partnership (where relevant) – believe will deliver the best overall outcomes in growing long term patronage, revenues and thus maintaining service levels, whilst maintaining essential social and economic connectivity for local communities.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the uptake in apprenticeships since 2020.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships are crucial in driving growth and social mobility. They boost businesses skills and improve people’s earnings and progression opportunities. Since the 2019/20 academic year there have been 1.33 million (provisional) apprenticeship starts across England, and we want to see this number grow.
We are increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, encouraging more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices. We have created flexible training models, such as flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, to make apprenticeships more accessible for employers, and improved the transfer system so that levy-payers can make better use of their funds. We are also making it easier for employers to hire apprentices, and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education will review the content of 100 apprenticeship standards in sectors like construction and healthcare by the end of December 2023, so they reflect the latest technological developments.
To support more people to access degree apprenticeships, we are allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years, supporting degree apprenticeship providers to expand, and helping more people to access this provision, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23.
We continue to promote apprenticeships to young people in schools and further education colleges across the country through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, and UCAS will be expanding its service to allowing students to search for and apply to apprenticeships alongside degrees.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what proportion of officials who are (a) graded as senior civil servant 2 and (b) on full-time equivalent contracts in the Government Equalities Office are women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2022/23 more than half of new entrants to the Civil Service were women (54.1%). In 2021/22 51.6% of new entrants and 53.9% of promotions to the Senior Civil Service were women.
The Equality Hub is currently led by one Director at SCS2 level. This person is male and on a full time equivalent contract. Another member of staff at this grade, who is female, is on a career break.
To note, the Equality Hub comprises the Government Equalities Office, the Disability Unit, the Race Disparity Unit and the Social Mobility Commission. The percentages provided include information from all 4 units.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what proportion of officials on temporary contracts in the Government Equalities Office are women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
With regards to the gender of those on temporary contracts across all grades, 50% of these officials are women.
To note, the Equality Hub comprises the Government Equalities Office, the Disability Unit, the Race Disparity Unit and the Social Mobility Commission. The percentages provided include information from all 4 units.