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  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many places were awarded on nursing degrees at each institution in each of the last 5 years.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students enrolled at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The attached table shows the number of entrants to full-time undergraduate courses at English HEIs who were studying nursing, split by institution, for the last 5 academic years.

    Reforms to the funding of nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals (AHP) courses will enable universities to create more training places by the end of this Parliament, allowing more students to study for a health degree.

  • Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Toby Perkins – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Toby Perkins on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) applicants and (b) accepted offers of places there were for nursing degrees at each institution in 2014-15 from (i) A-levels and (ii) Access students.

    Joseph Johnson

    The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publishes data on applications and acceptances for full-time undergraduate courses.

    In 2015 the number of applications to nursing courses was 186,260 and the number of acceptances was 21,450. Each person can make up to five applications.

    UCAS does not publish data on applicants or acceptances for nursing degrees broken down by either institution or entry qualification.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to agree a budget settlement for the apprenticeship levy for the devolved nations of the UK.

    Greg Hands

    We have committed to ensuring that the Devolved Administrations each receive a fair share of the levy. Discussions with the Devolved Administrations are ongoing and good progress is being made.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-25.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to maintain the apprenticeship levy rate of 0.5 per cent on employers’ pay bills over £3 million until 2020.

    Greg Hands

    The government has confirmed that the apprenticeship levy will be set at a rate of 0.5% of company paybill and every employer will have a £15,000 allowance to offset against their levy liability. In practice, this means only employers with paybills greater than £3million will pay the levy.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if the Government will continue to pay for training to enable apprentices to achieve Level 2 or GCSEs in English and mathematics, as required, once the Apprenticeship Levy has been introduced.

    Nick Boles

    Apprentices have to meet a minimum standard in both English and maths up to Level 2. There are specific qualifications they must achieve. If an apprentice does not already have these, they may need to do an English or maths course. We will pay providers directly, for the Level 1 and 2 English and maths training they provide to apprentices.

    Further information on the amount that will be paid for English and maths training for apprentices who require it, will be published provisionally in June 2016 and confirmed in October 2016.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2016 to Question 34465, if his Department will take steps to allow web-users to include honours when completing government online forms.

    Joseph Johnson

    All future digital services, including online forms, will follow the Government Digital Service design principles. Our approach to personal data is to require the information that is relevant for the transaction.

  • Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what his policy is on safeguarding the future of the UK helicopter industry.

    Anna Soubry

    We are working with the UK aerospace industry to sustain and grow helicopter capability through the Aerospace Growth Partnership and the Defence Growth Partnership, both of which bring Government and industry together to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow high value jobs.

    Through this work we are supporting the industry’s private investment in technology, competitiveness, productivity, manufacturing capability and skills. For example, we have supported Finmeccanica Helicopters’ investment in new civil helicopter capability at Yeovil, safeguarding employment through diversification into the growing civil aerospace market. In addition, we are co-investing with industry in collaborative R&D projects led by Finmeccanica Helicopters and Airbus Helicopters on new technologies including advanced rotor blades and lightweight structures.

  • Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Peter Kyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Kyle on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33699, what the duties of the board members of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be prior to the launch of that Institute in April 2017.

    Nick Boles

    The Institute for Apprenticeship’s Board will be appointed via a public appointments process later this year. In shadow form, the Board will be expected to oversee the finalisation of the organisation’s workplan and the transition to taking on the Institute’s statutory functions in April 2017. Further information about the roles and duties of the Board members will be provided when the public appointments process is complete.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to Skills Funding Agency statistics on Apprenticeship Achievements by framework code, level and gender, 2002-03 to 2013-14, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the reduction in the proportion of engineering apprenticeships which were undertaken by women between 2002 and 2014.

    Nick Boles

    The proportion of apprenticeship starts by women on the Engineering apprenticeship framework in England decreased from 4.6 per cent in 2002/03 to 3.8 per cent in 2013/14. The volume of apprenticeship starts on this framework by women actually increased by over ten percent over this period, but there was a larger proportionate increase in male apprentices in this period.

    We are encouraging more young women to enter science and engineering careers, including apprenticeships. The annual Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (TEWeek) acts a focal point to encourage them to consider a career in engineering. The Your Life campaign inspires young people to study maths and physics as a gateway to STEM careers. The STEM Ambassadors programme is a network of over 28,000 volunteers working with schools across the UK, 40% of whom are women.

    We are taking action to support the growth of apprenticeships in all areas to meet our commitment to 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.

  • Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Phil Boswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Phil Boswell on 2016-04-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the Young Women’s Trust on page 13 of its report, Making apprenticeships work for young women, that apprenticeships are reinforcing, rather than challenging, occupational segregation by gender.

    Nick Boles

    We want to make apprenticeships accessible to the widest possible range of people, as part of meeting our commitment to reach 3 million starts in England by 2020.

    Women are well-represented within English apprenticeships – 53.0% of starts in 2014/15 were made by women. This is higher than in both 2013/14 (52.9%) and 2009/10 (49.6%). We will continue to support the extension of this positive representation across all sectors.

    We have made it a priority to ensure that all young people have access to quality careers advice and support to help them make the right personal choices. This includes communicating career opportunities in sectors such as science and engineering. We will launch a new communications campaign in May aimed at promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Our promotional campaigns include role models of successful female apprentices in sectors where they are under-represented.