Tag: Lord Aberdare

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding will be available to firms which are too small to pay the Apprenticeship Levy when it is introduced in 2017 to enable them to continue to offer, or begin to offer, apprenticeships, and how much those firms will have to contribute themselves.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

Employers with a pay bill of less than £3 million will not have to pay the levy. This is more than 98% of all employers. These 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 Lord Aberdare on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they plan to make to enable firms that pay the Apprenticeship Levy on the basis of their UK-wide pay bill to claim funding from the Apprenticeship Levy fund to support apprenticeships in the devolved nations.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The levy will apply to employers across the UK. As skills policy is a devolved area the Devolved Administrations will continue to have complete flexibility over how to support businesses in their Territories through training and apprenticeships. We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK and we are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to achieve that.

The levy will apply to employers across the UK. As skills policy is a devolved area the Devolved Administrations will receive their fair share of the income from the levy, and have flexibility over how to use it to support businesses in their territories. We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK and we are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to achieve that

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, after the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, incentive payments will continue to be made available for (1) small firms offering apprenticeships, (2) apprenticeships offered to 16–18 year olds, and (3) successfully completed apprenticeships.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

In English Apprenticeships: Our 2020 vision we set out our plans for introducing a simple and transparent funding model alongside the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. We want this to continue to encourage employers to take on 16-18 year old apprenticeships, as well as encourage take up of the higher quality training offered by apprenticeship standards. Further information on new arrangements will be made available by the summer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are considering introducing a more streamlined process to become a registered training organisation in order to encourage more employers to deliver their own specialist apprenticeship training.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

We have committed to streamline the process to reduce barriers to new training providers entering the market and joining the Register of Training Organisations, so that there is a broad and flexible range of high quality providers of apprenticeship training.

We will consult with employers to help us determine what this process should look like in the future. We recognise the important contribution of employers that provide apprenticeship training and want to ensure this continues.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in developing the IT system to support the delivery of the Digital Apprenticeship Voucher, and what plans they have for testing and piloting that scheme.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The digital apprenticeship service is being built by the Skills Funding Agency in accordance with Cabinet Office best practice.

To ensure that the service is focused on employer and training provider needs we are performing extensive user research. The service will build on insights gathered from over 2000 employers and around 400 training providers. To make sure that the service is ready for the levy in April 2017, we plan to launch a substantial pilot with employers and providers later this year.

Further details on the apprenticeship levy and the digital apprenticeship service are available in the guide for employers which was published in April: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-levy-how-it-will-work

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Institute for Apprenticeships will take over any of the functions carried out by Ofsted, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education or Ofqual, such as the inspection of apprenticeship provision or the regulation of qualifications, and if so, which.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The role of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to ensure the quality of apprenticeship standards.

Apprenticeships will only attract funding from government or the levy if they are against an approved standard or framework. Each standard will contain a plan for how the apprenticeship will be assessed. Although this will be approved by the Institute, the Institute will not assess the apprenticeship training itself: the register of training providers is owned by the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted will continue to inspect providers.

The Institute will, however, need to ensure there is consistency between the levels of assessment being applied, as part of its role in approving standards and assessment plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role the new Institute for Apprenticeships will have in regulating the quality of apprenticeships, and what powers it will have to undertake that role.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

The role of the Institute for Apprenticeships will be to ensure the quality of apprenticeship standards.

Apprenticeships will only attract funding from government or the levy if they are against an approved standard or framework. Each standard will contain a plan for how the apprenticeship will be assessed. Although this will be approved by the Institute, the Institute will not assess the apprenticeship training itself: the register of training providers is owned by the Skills Funding Agency and Ofsted will continue to inspect providers.

The Institute will, however, need to ensure there is consistency between the levels of assessment being applied, as part of its role in approving standards and assessment plans.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding of the recent British Red Cross research report Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? that up to 59 per cent of pre-hospital deaths from injury could have been prevented with basic first aid, what steps they are taking to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to learn life-saving skills at school.

Lord Nash

We want to provide all young people with a curriculum that prepares them for success in adult life. High-quality personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) teaching has a vital role to play in this, helping young people understand the world around them, building resilience and helping them to make good choices and stay safe.

The national ‎curriculum sets the expectation that pupils study PSHE education in maintained schools, and academies are encouraged to teach it as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

Schools and teachers should decide what to teach based on their pupils’ needs, and taking account of pupil and parent views, when planning health education as part of PSHE.

Where schools decide to teach first aid they are free to draw on expert advice and resources for teaching, as provided by organisations such as the British Red Cross, when planning their curriculum.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding of the recent British Red Cross research report Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? that up to 59 per cent of pre-hospital deaths from injury could have been prevented with basic first aid, what they are doing to ensure that first aid education features within public health strategies.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

The Government recognises that the timely application of first aid can help minimise the impact of injuries, as well as health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, and contribute to avoiding preventable deaths.

The NHS Choices website contains information for the public on first aid responses to various injuries and health incidents including burns, bleeding, choking, drowning, fractures, heart attacks, strokes and poisoning; the possible symptoms to note; how to respond to them; and how to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A copy of the relevant NHS Choices web page is attached.

In addition, the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The national Act Fast campaign also aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999. Since Act Fast launched in 2009, it is estimated that an additional 47,000 people reached hospital within the vital three-hour window and over 5,000 fewer people became disabled as a result of a stroke.

Local authorities in England have the lead responsibility for identifying and meeting needs for local interventions to improve the health of their populations, including steps to reduce preventable deaths.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Aberdare on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the finding of the recent British Red Cross research report Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? that up to 59 per cent of pre-hospital deaths from injury, many of them occurring on UK’s roads, could have been prevented with basic first aid, whether they are considering making attendance at a first aid course mandatory in order to acquire a driving licence in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

There are no plans to make attendance at a first aid course mandatory to acquire a driving licence. It would restrict people’s mobility and access to jobs and education that a driving licence often unlocks.

Driver’s knowledge of first aid is already tested as part of the driver theory test and many professional drivers take first aid training. The Department is providing support for a not-for-profit training programme for drivers in administering first aid.