Tag: Gordon Marsden

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether he plans to ring-fence funding for adult basic skills within the adult skills budget for 2016-17.

Nick Boles

No. Funding for basic skills is a crucial part of the Adult Education Budget. But a ring-fence means central Government deciding how money should be spent. We prefer to allow colleges and other providers to decide how best to meet the needs of the communities they serve. The interests of learners who lack basic skills are protected by statutory entitlements to free provision in basic English and maths.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate he has made of how much European Social Fund funding will be allocated to local enterprise partnerships by the end of March (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Anna Soubry

Information on the combined allocation for European Social Fund and European Regional Development Fund to each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area for the 2014-20 period can be found on the GOV.UK website at ‘EU Structural Funds: UK allocations 2014 to 2020’.

Each LEP area was asked to prepare a strategy setting out its priorities for how its allocation should be spent, including how much should come from the European Social Fund. Information on the individual LEP area Strategies for 2014-20 can be found on the website ‘The Network of LEPs-LEP Network’, searching by European funding.

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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants there were in Blackpool South constituency in (a) June 2015, (b) December 2015 and (c) the latest month for which figures are available.

Priti Patel

The information you have requested is available in the official Universal Credit statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics.

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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 the expected Resource Accounting and Budgeting charge is for student loans paid out to EU students studying in England.

Joseph Johnson

The Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge, which represents the value of the part of the loan that is not expected to be repaid, is not calculated separately by the nationality of the students. We estimate that the RAB charge for full time tuition fee and maintenance loans is between 20% and 25%.

My Department publishes an updated estimate of the RAB charge each year, close to the time of the publication of BIS accounts. The most recent estimate of the RAB charge was published on 18 February 2016. The estimate, together with a simplified version of the model for calculating the RAB charge can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/stepmodel

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2016 to Question 45104, when her Department plans to publish its final policy on apprenticeship funding reforms.

Robert Halfon

We will be publishing details of our final funding policy for apprenticeships in England from May 2017 shortly.

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 (a) discussions he has had and (b) consultations he has undertaken with sector stakeholders on potential changes to earning repayment thresholds for 24+ Advanced Learner Loans.

Nick Boles

The consultation Freezing the student loan repayment threshold covered both higher education student loans and 24+ Advanced Learning Loans. Stakeholders with an interest in 24+ Advanced Learning Loans were notified of the consultation when it was published.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultations he or officials in his Department have had with (a) further education college representatives, (b) further education providers and (c) sector skills councils about the structures on board composition of the proposed Institute for Apprenticeships announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Nick Boles

The creation of the Institute for Apprenticeships has been informed by feedback from employers and employer groups such as the CBI, as well as organisations working alongside our employer-led trailblazers to develop new apprenticeship standards. This includes representatives of training providers and sector skills councils.

The chair and board members of the Institute will be appointed though a public appointments process in 2016.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the National Apprenticeship Service will continue to be (a) administered and (b) funded through the Skills Funding Agency in 2016-17.

Nick Boles

The National Apprenticeship Service is part of the Skills Funding Agency. We plan for this to continue to be the case in 2016-17.

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 commissioned an independent evaluation of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills before deciding to withdraw funding from it; and if so, if he will publish it.

Nick Boles

No independent evaluation of UKCES was commissioned. The decision by Whitehall Departments to withdraw funding from 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 decision had regard to the range of priorities needing to be funded from non-participation budgets. BIS is working with UKCES and the users of its services, including the Devolved Administrations, to manage the implications of this decision.