Tag: Gordon Marsden

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to apply the freeze of the student loan repayment threshold on which his Department has recently consulted to the repayment of 24+ Advanced Learner Loans.

Nick Boles

As set out in the consultation, because both higher education student loans and 24+ Advanced Learning Loans share a repayment threshold, the change will equally affect both groups of learners.

The Spending Review announced that the Government has decided to implement a repayment threshold freeze for all borrowers with post-2012 (‘Plan 2’) loans. The repayment threshold will be £21,000 at April 2016, and it will not be uplifted until at least April 2021, when the threshold will be reviewed. This threshold remains higher in real terms than that of the loans taken out before 2012.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff were employed by full-time equivalence (a) in total and (b) by region in the National Apprenticeship Service in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2014-15; and how many staff will be employed by full-time equivalence in the National Apprenticeship Service in (A) 2015-16, (B) 2016-17 and (C) 2017-18.

Nick Boles

The National Apprenticeships Service is housed within the Skills Funding Agency. The tables below outline the total number of staff employed by full-time equivalence and by region in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2012-13 and (iii) 2014-15; and how many staff will be employed by full-time equivalence in (A) 2015-16, (B) 2016-17 and (C) 2017-18.

*The Skills Funding Agency is unable to forecast future headcount.

Year	Total	Region
2010-11 (as at 31 March 2011)	Headcount 382	East Midlands – 33 East of England – 32 London – 37 North East – 26 North West – 36 South East – 33 South West – 35 West Midlands – 27 Yorkshire & Humber – 36 National – 87
2012-13 (as at 31 March 2013)	Headcount 340	London – 54 Central – 66 North East – 64 North West – 40 South East – 39 South West – 51 National – 26
2014-15 (as at 31 March 2015)	Headcount 317	London – 54 Central – 66 North East – 64 North West – 40 South East – 51 South West – 39 National – 3
2015-16 (as at 11.12.15)	Headcount 245	N/A
2016-17*	Not available	N/A
2017-18*	Not available	N/A

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans to launch his Department’s consultation for target numbers of apprenticeships in the public sector.

Nick Boles

The consultation was published on 25 January 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he consulted the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before deciding to withdraw funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Nick Boles

The decision by Whitehall Departments to withdraw funding from the UKCES during 2016-17 was taken as part of the spending review given the need to make savings in non-participation budgets to allow the core adult skills participation budgets to be protected in cash terms.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has subsequently been working with the Devolved Administrations on the future arrangements for working together on common issues within the context of our devolved skills systems.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will hold discussions with individual sector skills councils on the proportion of the three million new apprenticeships that need to be at level 3 and level 4.

Nick Boles

Apprenticeships are jobs, so employers themselves decide what occupations and levels they employ apprentices in.

Employer-led Trailblazers are designing apprenticeship standards at a range of levels to meet the skill needs of their industries.

We will continue to encourage the growth of apprenticeships at all levels to meet our commitment to 3 million new starts in England by 2020, including Level 3, Level 4 and Degree Apprenticeships.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-21.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how much the apprenticeship levy is expected to raise in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

Greg Hands

The latest forecasts for the apprenticeship levy by the Office for Budget Responsibility are published in table 2.2 of the Budget 2016 document, which is available on gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with the Association of Employment and Learning Providers on the nature of their involvement with and contribution to the Institute of Apprenticeships.

Nick Boles

I will be meeting with the incoming CEO of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers later this month. My officials have regular discussions with the Association on all aspects of apprenticeships policy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, from which academic year the Government plans that a Sharia-compliant student loan will be available for Muslim students.

Joseph Johnson

The November 2015 Higher Education Green Paper (Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice) confirms the Government’s intention to introduce, for the first time, a new system of alternative student finance. Subject to Parliament, the Government plans to introduce the system through new primary legislation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanisms there will be under the Apprenticeship Levy for additional support to incentivise employers to take on disadvantaged young people.

Nick Boles

Extra support will be provided for employers to take on disadvantaged young people, including 16-18 year olds, those aged 19-24 who have been in the care of the Local Authority, apprentices with additional learning needs, and apprentices who do not have the level of English and maths that is required to meet the minimum standard.

Further guidance will be published in June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of the likely impact of freezing the earnings repayment thresholds for 24+ Advanced Learner Loans on the Resource Account and Budgeting charge of outstanding debt which will be written off for 24+ Advanced Learner Loans.

Nick Boles

We estimate the RAB charge under option 1 (freeze threshold for all Plan 2 loans, existing and new borrowers from April 2016 to April 2021) will decrease by about 5 percentage points from the current level of 55% to 50%.

Further information on the impact of freezing the earnings repayment thresholds for 24+ Advanced Learning Loans on future repayments is shown in the Consultation on freezing the student loan repayment thresholds, which has been published here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freezing-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold

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