Tag: Iain Wright

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of difficulties in recruiting embryologists in (a) England and (b) the North East.

Ben Gummer

Individual healthcare providers are responsible for ensuring that they have the right level of staffing to provide high quality care to their patients, including embryology services.

Health Education England (HEE) was established in 2012 to ensure the National Health Service has access to the right numbers of staff, at the right time and with the right skills. In doing so, HEE works with key external stakeholders to develop its National Workforce Plan for England which sets out the number of training places it will commission in the year ahead to meet future local need.

HEE will continue to work with its 13 Local Education and Training Boards and others to ensure that there are sufficient healthcare scientists, including embryologists, being trained to meet the future needs of patients.

Currently HEE has 28 reproductive scientists in training (which includes embryology) and are planning a further 11 to start in 2016/17. It takes three years to train a reproductive scientist.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have advised that it is not aware of any issues concerning the availability of embryologists in the United Kingdom.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on the training requirements of small and medium-sized firms unable to access the levy.

Nick Boles

When the apprenticeships levy is introduced in April 2017, small and medium sized employers will continue to have access to government funding to support apprenticeships. We will provide further details on the support available later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on training and skills funding for people aged over 21.

Nick Boles

The combination of the apprenticeship levy, the protection of the Adult Education Budget and the extension of loans mean that by 2019-20 the total spending power of the FE sector to support participation will be £3.41bn, an increase in cash terms of 40% compared with 2015-16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department intends to cease any existing or planned business support mechanisms in order to implement the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles

We are not cutting business support mechanisms to implement the levy. We are improving our business services by developing the Digital Apprenticeship Service.

Through this online mechanism employers will have access to a number of services to help them choose and pay for apprenticeship training in a simple way.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the estimated (a) cost of establishing and (b) annual running cost of the Institute of Apprenticeships is; whether his Department has made an assessment of the effects of funding that institute on his Department’s annual programme budget; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles

The final size and structure of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be determined by the shadow chair and CEO later in the spring and this will then determine its final running cost. The body will be funded by Government using public funds, as the rest of the governance system is, and it is expected that some funding will be freed up from savings across the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish his Department’s impact assessment of the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles

HM Treasury published a Tax Information and Impact Note on 4 February 2016 at

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy/apprenticeship-levy.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on the training requirements of small and medium-sized firms unable to access the levy.

Nick Boles

When the apprenticeships levy is introduced in April 2017, small and medium sized employers will continue to have access to government funding to support apprenticeships. We will provide further details on the support available later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on training and skills funding for people aged over 21.

Nick Boles

The combination of the apprenticeship levy, the protection of the Adult Education Budget and the extension of loans mean that by 2019-20 the total spending power of the FE sector to support participation will be £3.41bn, an increase in cash terms of 40% compared with 2015-16.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will ensure that adequate funding is provided to North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust to maintain a full range of services during the winter period.

Jane Ellison

Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Clinical Commissioning Group received an additional £1,994,000 in its baseline in 2015/16 with the specific purpose of ensuring resilience throughout the year, of this funding around two-thirds was allocated to North Tees and Hartlepool Foundation Trust.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Iain Wright on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department intends to cease any existing or planned business support mechanisms in order to implement the apprenticeship levy.

Nick Boles

We are not cutting business support mechanisms to implement the levy. We are improving our business services by developing the Digital Apprenticeship Service.

Through this online mechanism employers will have access to a number of services to help them choose and pay for apprenticeship training in a simple way.