theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that councils have adequate resources to enforce planning decisions. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government appreciate that planning departments across the country are experiencing challenges with recruitment, retention, and skills gaps and that in many cases these issues are having a negative impact on service delivery.

At the Budget, the Chanceller announced a £46 million package of investment into the planning system as a one-year settlement for 2025-2026. A proportion of this funding will be used to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities, including the recruitment and training of 300 graduate and apprentice planners and developing the skills needed to implement reforms and unlock housing delivery.

This will be further underpinned by increases in planning fees that will help improve the resourcing of planning application services, so that local planning authorities can fund the skills they need.

More broadly, the Department’s established Planning Capacity and Capability programme is also developing a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need, both now and in the future, to modernise local plans and speed up decision making, including through innovative use of digital planning data and software.

It is for local planning authorities to ensure they have the resources in place to carry out their planning enforcement function.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to respond to Question 24712, tabled on 17 January 2025. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 24712 on 12 February.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that National Planning Policy reforms protect (a) nature and (b) wildlife. \p Matthew Pennycook: The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published on 12 December 2024 included several changes designed to enhance and protect the environment. For example, it expects developments to provide net gains for biodiversity, including through incorporating features which support priority or threatened species such as swifts, bats and hedgehogs.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of 22 January 2025, Official Report, Column 867, on Community Engagement Principles and Extremism Definition, if he will (a) publish the members of the steering group, (b) publish when it has met and (c) place copies of the minutes of each meeting in the Library. \p Alex Norris: This information will be published in due course.
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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department is taking steps to remove toxic lead pipes in housing in (a) England, (b) East Anglia and (c) South West Norfolk constituency. \p Alex Norris: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Questions UIN 27855 on 6 February 2025.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to improve fire safety in (a) new and (b) existing high-rise buildings in Essex. \p Alex Norris: The Building Safety Act 2022 established a comprehensive regulatory framework for fire and structural safety to ensure homes are safe now and in the years to come. A key part of this included the establishment of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to oversee new and existing higher-risk buildings, as well as the introduction of new legal duties to ensure there is someone clearly responsibly for safety during the design, build and occupation of these buildings across England.

For occupied higher-risk buildings, those responsible must report safety issues, maintain a 'golden thread' of information, produce a safety case report to demonstrate safety risks are being effectively managed, and engage residents to support ongoing risk management. BSR uses the building assessment certificate process to determine whether dutyholders are meeting specific legal duties, and whether they are taking all reasonable steps to manage building safety risks. The BSR began directing applications for building assessments in April 2024.

Since the Grenfell Tower fire, significant updates have been made to fire safety regulations and guidance within Approved Document B to improve safety standards for new buildings. New Measures for residents include a ban on combustible materials in and on the external wall of buildings over 18m, provisions for sprinklers in buildings over 11m, second staircases in high-rise buildings over 18m.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there is any recourse to funding available to people wishing to buy a pub in their village in the context of the closure of the Community Ownership Fund. \p Alex Norris: Community groups seeking funding to preserve community assets, including community pubs, can continue to use the guidance and tools available through the Community Ownership Fund development support provider on the MyCommunity site.

These tools have been designed to help any organisation seeking to save an asset that is important to them and their local community and will remain available beyond the programme. The development support provider may also be able to help to suggest alternative sources of funding that organisations could look to secure.

This Government remains committed to the communities’ sector and to community empowerment. The Devolution White Paper, which was published on 16 December 2024, set out plans which demonstrate our commitment. There will be further announcements relating to communities this year, including on the community ownership of assets.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her planned timetable is for publishing a Government response to the report entitled The impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published on 16 June 2022. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 5693 on 7 October 2024.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2024 to Question xx-xxxx-xxxx on Affordable Housing: Construction, how many homes of each type of tenure will be delivered from the £500 million additional funding; and what the estimated average grant subsidy is per unit required under each type of affordable housing tenure. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has made clear that it expects the £500 million in new funding for the Affordable Homes Programme announced in October 2024 to deliver up to 5,000 homes.

As set out in my answer to Question UIN xx-xxxx-xxxx on 16 December 2024, the government will continue to work with Homes England and the GLA to support them to deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and home-ownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.

While the funding in question remains open to bidding, the matter of average grant rates per home is a commercially sensitive one.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much her Department has spent on taxi expenses for homeless people in the last 12 months. \p Rushanara Ali: The Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG) is allocated to councils across England based on local homelessness pressures and is used to meet local needs.

HPG funding allocations for the period 2023 through 2025 are available online and can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homelessness-prevention-grant-2023-to-2025

Local authorities can use their funding flexibly to support homeless households. MHCLG does not hold any data on the proportion of funding that was allocated to taxi expenses.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many 16 year olds have photographic identification recognised under the Elections Act 2022. \p Rushanara Ali: As our manifesto made clear, the government will address the inconsistencies in the voter identification policy so that all legitimate electors are able to vote. As part of our continuing assessment and review of the policy we are in the process of researching ID ownership amongst 16 and 17 year olds ahead of the franchise change planned for this parliament. If any changes to the voter identification policy are found to be necessary or appropriate, we will bring forward proposals for them in due course.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2024 to Question 16195 on Right to Buy Scheme, if she will publish figures for the amount of Right to Buy receipts retained by local authorities in each individual year since 2009-10. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Department does not publish the amount of Right to Buy receipts retained by local authorities in each financial year.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that local councils remain accountable to residents under the Devolution Priority Programme. \p Jim McMahon: On 5 February, the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed that the Government will be taking Greater Essex (Essex County Council, Thurrock Council, Southend-on-Sea City Council) forward on the Devolution Priority Programme. The government also agreed that, for Essex County Council and Thurrock Council, postponing local elections from May 2025 to May 2026 is essential for the delivery of the Devolution Priority Programme and complementary local government reorganisation ahead of Mayoral elections.

The Government has also set out in its manifesto several commitments to increase participation in democracy, including introducing votes at 16 for all elections, improving registration, reviewing and amending the voter ID rules, and strengthening the political finance framework.

A Government consultation entitled “Strengthening the Standards and Conduct Framework for Local Authorities in England” is currently seeking views on proposed measures to strengthen the standards framework, including the introduction of the sanction of suspension. The proposed reforms aim to deliver greater accountability and public confidence that local authorities will uphold the highest standards of conduct.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure the provision of adequate funding for demand-led local government services in the next spending review. \p Jim McMahon: We recognise the challenges that local authorities are facing as demand increases for critical services. Funding allocations from future settlements are subject to the outcome of future Spending Reviews.

The final Settlement for 2025-26 therefore makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.

We are also taking immediate action to begin addressing the significant challenges facing local government by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most in 2025-26.

The Ministry works closely with local government and other government departments to understand specific demand and cost pressures facing local government on an ongoing basis.
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Emma Foody:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish the Core Spending Power allocation to Newcastle City Council for the years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2023-24 and (e) 2025-26. \p Jim McMahon: As part of the final Local Government Finance Settlement 2025-26, announced on 5 February, the government published the latest Core Spending Power figures which are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-table-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2024-to-2025

Included within the tables are figures for allocations dating back to 2015. Due to changes in the function and financing of local government, comparable data is not available prior to 2015-16.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to ensure there will be no devolution islands following the reognisation of local government. \p Jim McMahon: I refer my Hon Member to the answer I gave to UIN 26698 on the 3rd February 2025.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing assemblies akin to the London Assembly for each Strategic Authority. \p Jim McMahon: There is an existing system of accountability and scrutiny arrangements for Mayoral Combined Authorities and Mayoral Combined County Authorities to ensure that public spending is achieving value for money.

The government is committed to strengthening the accountability and scrutiny arrangements that will enable central government, Mayors, and Combined Authorities to shift gear into a new mode of genuine partnership. The English Devolution White Paper set out how the government plans to go further.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of adding more brackets on the Council Tax band system for the highest value homes. \p Jim McMahon: The government currently has no plans to reform council tax. The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible.
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Sir Desmond Swayne:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the development of new agricultural technologies. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government recognises the importance of innovation and technologies in supporting farmers to drive productivity and profitability, boosting Britain’s food security and improving nature’s recovery.

The Government is supporting the development of agricultural technologies through a range of policies.

Defra has announced the Accelerating Development of Practices and Technologies (ADOPT) Fund which will launch in Spring 2025, enabling farmer-led trials to bridge the gap between new technologies and their real-world application.

Legislation to implement the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 will be introduced in Parliament before the end of March. When in force, this will enable farmers to grow crops with higher yields and that are more resistant to drought, pests and diseases.

Defra will collaborate closely with industry partners, such as The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture, a professional body established in 2021 that aims to drive greater uptake of professional skills, including in relation to new technologies, among farmers and growers for a more prosperous Sector.

Defra will continue to look carefully at how to position future investment and support to enable the benefits of new technologies to be fully realised and integrated into farming practices.
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Ruth Cadbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether people can import polystyrene cups into the UK. \p Mary Creagh: The supply of expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups, that are used to contain food or drink that is ready-to-consume has been banned since 1 October 2023.

However, you may still import polystyrene cups. This facilitates their movement through the supply chain to allow for other uses.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of snares on animal welfare. \p Mary Creagh: Defra recognises many people in this country have concerns about the use of snares on animal welfare and bans have now been brought into place in Scotland and Wales. Wildlife management is a devolved matter which means that the Scottish and Welsh Governments are free to make their own laws in relation to snaring.

Free-running snares are currently legal in England and are regulated by law. They must be checked at least once a day and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits the setting of any type of snare in places where they are likely to catch certain non-target animals. Anyone using snares also has a responsibility under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to ensure their activities do not cause wild animals or pets any unnecessary suffering.

This government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation and this included a commitment to bring an end to the use of snare traps in England. Defra is considering the most effective way to deliver this commitment and will be setting out next steps in due course.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Daniel Zeichner: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has not used AI within any business processes to aid decision making regarding the quality, safety or efficacy of the lifecycle of veterinary medicines within the last 12 months.

The VMD submitted a nil return to Cabinet Office regarding the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) on 30 August 2024.

The VMD can draw on a range of resources, published on GOV.UK, to inform AI usage. For example, the Generative AI Framework, the Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Framework, the Data Ethics Framework, the AI Opportunities Action Plan and the ATRS.

The Directorate also has access to the Government Digital Service, part of the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, for expert advice.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26. \p Daniel Zeichner: The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department are responsible for (a) processing and (b) responding to Freedom of Information Act requests; and if he will make an estimate of the annual cost to the public purse of this work. \p Daniel Zeichner: Each team within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that holds information relevant to a request is responsible for providing responses in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs). These teams receive guidance on the application of the legislation from Defra’s Information Rights Team, which is responsible for processing such requests. The Information Rights Team consists of six staff members.

Defra does not maintain a cost accounting system to track staff time spent responding to information requests; therefore, no annual cost figure is available.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making insurance cover of properties at risk of flooding mandatory for insurers participating in the Flood Re scheme. \p Emma Hardy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 5 February 2025, UIN 27724.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of combined sewerage systems in Devon on water quality. \p Emma Hardy: For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

Storm overflows are safety valves within our combined sewage system to protect properties from flooding. The Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan sets stretching targets to reduce the harms from storm overflows. This ambitious plan is guiding future investment in sector.

Water companies are investing around £12 billion between 2025-2030, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales, and reduce spills by 45% compared to 2021 levels. In Devon, a large spill reduction programme of works will be undertaken by South West Water, in the next 5 years to improve overflows in the Exe river & estuary catchments. This will see improvements to Combined Storm Overflows, pumping stations & sewage treatment works.

We are also carrying out a full review of the water sector to shape further legislation that will transform how our water system works and clean up rivers, lakes and seas for good.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to prevent higher education institutions from targeted influence from hostile states. \p Janet Daby: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

This government is committed to ensuring our world-leading universities remain free from foreign interference. There are a set of measures that protect against undue foreign interference in our universities. These range from the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, which vets students and researchers seeking to study in sensitive areas, to the provisions of the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act 2023, which includes the implementation of a new complaints scheme which will offer a new focused route for concerns regarding foreign interference in academic freedom and free speech to be raised.

The government offers practical advice to support the sector to engage with international partnerships in transparent and secure ways. The Research Collaboration and Advice Team, the National Protective Security Authority, the National Cyber Security Centre, and guidance published by Universities UK all support the sector to manage the security-related risks of internationalisation.

The government is currently working at pace on the implementation of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which will apply to universities across the UK, and will require registration of foreign directed activity involving specific governments and entities where it is necessary to protect the safety or interests of the UK. We expect the scheme to commence in summer 2025.

Finally, the government is conducting an internal review, informed by engagement with the regulator, sector, academics impacted by foreign interference, as well as international partners, to assess existing approaches to managing the risk of foreign interference and what more support they might need.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the availability of apprenticeships in rural areas. \p Janet Daby: This government has a driving mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Meeting the skills needs of the next decade is central to delivering the government's five missions on economic growth, opportunity for all, a stronger NHS, safer streets and clean energy. Through delivering the opportunity and growth missions, the department will ensure that we have the skilled workforce needed to deliver the national, regional and local skills needs. This will align with the government’s industrial strategy and break down the barriers to opportunity for learners.

In order to help meet these skills needs, the government has committed to widening the apprenticeships offer into a levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart. This will offer greater flexibility to learners and employers, including those in rural areas. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

In addition, Skills England will help to ensure that there is a comprehensive suite of apprenticeships, training and technical qualifications for individuals and employers to access, and that regional and national skills needs are met.

The department is committed to supporting employers, including those in rural areas, to offer apprenticeship opportunities. The government continues to pay additional funding to employers and training providers to support them to take on young apprentices, apprentices with learning difficulties and disabilities and care leavers.

The department pays 100% of apprentice training costs for small employers when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 21 and £1,000 to all employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under-19. This payment is to support young apprentices in the workplace and can be used to support costs such as travel, work equipment and uniforms.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with higher education institutions to improve (a) training for staff on and (b) levels of awareness of safeguarding at those institutions. \p Janet Daby: There is no place for sexual misconduct of any kind in higher education (HE) or anywhere else. The department expects university leaders to take positive action to tackle this blight wherever it grows on their campuses. To support universities to stamp out sexual misconduct, the Office for Students has introduced new requirements for preventing, addressing and investigating incidents. These take effect in August 2025. Departmental officials are working with sector bodies to ensure HE providers are prepared to implement the new measures that will establish, amongst other things, regulatory requirements for preventative training, reporting mechanisms and providing support to students. All HE providers will need to show they have the capability and resource capacity to implement the new requirements. More details of this condition can be found here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/student-protection-and-support/harassment-and-sexual-misconduct/prevent-and-address-harassment-and-sexual-misconduct/.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an estimate of the number of (a) universities and (b) higher education buildings where reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is present. \p Janet Daby: The higher education (HE) sector is independent from government and it is therefore for individual providers to determine and address any estate issues.

The Institution of Structural Engineers has published guidance that HE institutions can refer to on investigating and assessing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).

Departmental officials engaged with Universities UK and HE mission groups during 2023, to direct HE providers to RAAC guidance from the Institution of Structural Engineers and to departmental RAAC guidance for state-funded education buildings.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of a 0% interest rate for student loans for the study of specific courses. \p Janet Daby: Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree, irrespective of the subject studied. The student loan system has significant borrower protections, and the government has not made an assessment of the impact of making interest rates dependent on the course studied.

Interest rates on student loans do not affect monthly repayments made by borrowers. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest. If a borrower’s income drops, so does the amount they repay. If income is below the relevant student loan repayment threshold, or a borrower is not earning, then they do not have to make repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off after the loan term ends, or in case of death or disability, at no detriment to the borrower.

Interest rates are set annually in relation to the Retail Price Index (RPI). The government caps maximum student loan rates when needed to ensure that student loan interest rates do not exceed market rates for comparable unsecured personal loans.

The government is determined that the higher education funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities, and for students. The department is considering the system and will continue to engage with stakeholders on this.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to support more employers to provide technical apprenticeships. \p Janet Daby: The government’s first mission is to kickstart economic growth. Across the country skills gaps are holding back business growth and the government has committed to widening the apprenticeships offer into a levy-funded growth and skills offer.

Our levy-funded growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers in England, aligned with our industrial strategy creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries. As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people.

In addition, as Skills England have highlighted, employer demand for higher technical skills at levels 4 and 5 is growing. The department is supporting employers to meet the need for higher technical skills, with over 150 apprenticeship standards approved for delivery at levels 4 and 5. Skills England will also help to ensure that there is a comprehensive suite of apprenticeships, training and technical qualifications for individuals and employers to access, which are aligned with skills gaps and what employers need.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to provide (a) tuition fee, (b) financial and (c) other support to students from Northern Ireland studying at universities in Great Britain. \p Janet Daby: The Northern Ireland Executive has devolved responsibility for higher education in Northern Ireland and determines the student finance arrangements for Northern Irish students, including those students studying in England, Scotland and Wales.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_127

Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Skills England is accountable to Parliament. \p Janet Daby: It is intended for Skills England to become an Executive Agency of the Department for Education. As with all other Executive Agencies, Skills England will be required to have robust governance arrangements and clear lines of accountability, including to parliament. This will be set out in a publicly available Framework Document.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_128

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support freedom of speech in (a) schools and (b) universities. \p Janet Daby: This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom in schools, universities and beyond. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, confirmed to Parliament on 15 January the government’s plans for the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which will create a more effective, proportionate, balanced and less burdensome approach to protecting academic freedom and freedom of speech.

In addition, schools must promote the fundamental British values, including democracy and individual liberty. Schools have a statutory duty to ensure a balanced presentation of political issues, but older pupils can engage with the political issues provided activity is conducted sensitively and not targeted at others. The promotion of fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs is considered by Ofsted in their inspections.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_129

Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential equality impact of changes to the Disabled Students Allowance on (a) the provision of assistive technology support packages and products, and (b) the removal of the needs assessments from the eligibility criteria. \p Janet Daby: The department has not announced changes to the provision of assistive technology support packages and products through Disabled Students’ Allowances or the removal of needs assessments from the eligibility criteria.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_130

Lauren Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to review the adequacy of apprenticeship Qualification Achievement Rates for accurately capturing learner outcomes. \p Janet Daby: The department recognises there is a wide range of reasons for non-achievement of an apprenticeship, and that is why we hold training providers to account for quality delivery through the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework, which encompasses a wide range of quality indicators. In addition to Qualification Achievement Rates, these also include Ofsted inspection, retention rates, and employer and apprentice feedback.

Qualification Achievement Rates are one of a range of metrics the department holds on apprentice learner outcomes. We also publish a wide range of other information, including apprentice outcomes, earnings and satisfaction data.

As outlined in the department’s further education outcomes publication, 94% of apprentices who achieve their apprenticeships go into work or further training, with 93% remaining in sustained employment. This publication also shows that apprentices benefit from strong wage returns. Median earnings for an apprentice at level 3 were £19,550 one year after achievement, rising 36% to £26,540 five years on. Additionally, the department’s Apprenticeship Evaluation Learner Survey found that 86% of apprentices were satisfied with their apprenticeships and 88% felt their career prospects had improved since starting their apprenticeship.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_131

Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with Skills England on potential changes to the funding of apprenticeships. \p Janet Daby: Apprenticeships and skills will play a critical part in the government’s mission to drive growth across the country, supporting people to get better jobs and improve their standard of living.

The government has established Skills England to form a coherent national picture of skills gaps and help shape the technical education system so that it is responsive to skills needs. This will include advising on priorities for the new growth and skills offer.

Skills England engaged with employers and other key partners regarding early priorities for the new growth and skills offer, including proposals to ask more employers to step forward and fund more level 7 apprenticeships themselves.

Skills England spoke to over 700 stakeholders before Christmas as part of their engagement exercise, and have shared their findings with the department. Its findings from this engagement process will be published in early 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_132

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions for financial year 2025-26. \p Janet Daby: The government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments in the usual way, in line with the approach taken under the previous government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_133

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help increase the number of construction apprenticeships in (a) Slough constituency and (b) the South East. \p Janet Daby: This government has committed to widening the apprenticeships offer into a growth and skills offer, which will provide greater flexibility to employers and learners across the country, including in Slough and the South East. It will also align with the industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, such as construction.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country and providing high quality entry pathways for young people.

In addition, as part of this government’s ambitious plan to rebuild Britain and deliver 1.5 million homes in England in this Parliament, 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs will deliver fast-track training in critical areas such as bricklaying, groundwork, and site carpentry to boost housebuilding and drive forward the government’s growth mission. Hubs will be established in areas where large-scale homebuilding projects lead to a surge in demand. These Hubs will help deliver around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places per year by 2027/28, through a £140 million industry investment to get Britain building again.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-12 conversation_134

Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure fair and competitive pay for people working in further education. \p Janet Daby: This government is committed to ensuring there is a thriving further education (FE) sector, which is vital to our missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and boost economic growth.

FE colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay for their staff. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for schoolteachers. FE colleges were incorporated under the terms of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, which gave them autonomy over the pay and contractual terms and conditions of their staff.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE in the 2025/26 financial year to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs and a further £300 million to support colleges to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estate. We have recently announced that we are making approximately £50 million of the additional revenue funding available to statutory FE providers for April to July 2025. This one-off grant will enable colleges to respond to current priorities and challenges, including workforce recruitment and retention.

The remaining funding will be made available in 16-19 funding rates for the 2025/26 academic year.

This builds on the department’s investment to extend targeted retention incentive payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. We are also delivering funding to support those young people who do not pass mathematics and English GCSE at 16, who are predominantly studying in FE.

The department will continue to offer financial incentives for those undertaking teacher training for the FE sector in priority subject areas. FE teacher training bursaries will be offered for a further year, worth up to £31,000 each, tax-free, in the 2025/26 academic year. Additionally, we are supporting industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through our Taking Teaching Further programme.