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HANSARDHigher EducationMy Lords, I join noble Lords in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, on securing this very important debate and thank him for the way he introduced it. I underline how…07 Mar 2024HANSARDSchools (Mental Health Professionals) Bill [HL]There are two different elements, and I apologise to the noble Lord if I was not absolutely clear. He is quite right that with the mental health support teams we aim to cover 50%…01 Mar 2024HANSARDSchools (Mental Health Professionals) Bill [HL]My Lords, I also offer my congratulations to the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler of Enfield, on securing a Second Reading for her Bill. I thank all those noble Lords who shared their…01 Mar 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryI am sure the noble Lord will agree that many young people are attracted to working in areas that will address climate change, environmental issues and sustainability, but they…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryAs my noble friend well knows, we have introduced a points-based immigration system, making sure that we can focus on the brightest and the best to make a positive contribution to…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryI hope I did not suggest that no changes are needed. What employers need and want is a degree of stability in the apprenticeship system. We have done a huge amount of work, and…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryMy Lords, one-third of UK vacancies are due to skills shortages. Sectors with large shortages include construction, information technology and communications. This Government have…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryI have already talked about some of the things we are doing. It is important that people know what options and opportunities are available in their local area, and the LSIPs are…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryI am aware that we are doing a great deal of work to try to understand some of the issues that the noble Lord rightly raises, and which are particularly acute in some of our…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryApprenticeship starts fell because we had to do so much work with what we inherited as an apprenticeship system to make sure that we offered the quality that employers required. I…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryI would never want to sell this Government’s achievements short. I absolutely agree with my noble friend’s point about working with local skills improvement partnerships and…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryAs the noble Earl knows, one reason why there are skills shortages in the creative industries is their very rapid growth rate. Between 2010 and 2019, they grew one and a half…28 Feb 2024HANSARDSkill Shortages in Business and IndustryAbout half of apprenticeships are taken up by young people under the age of 24. I think the noble Lord referred to 21, but it splits at about half under 24 and half above that.…28 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapIf I have understood correctly—forgive me if I have not—the noble Lord is potentially conflating different things. Obviously, the minimum wage is a legal requirement, and the…27 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapThose were some of the questions we explored in our pay transparency pilot, which looked at the impact of requiring employers to put salary information into their job recruitment…27 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapMy noble friend is absolutely right. Last June, DWP published an official measure of the gender pensions gap, which is currently 35% in private pensions. The reforms that we…27 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapAs I have already said, the Government are working on a number of different aspects of this. Obviously, a critical part in relation to maternity leave—and the impact that, as the…27 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapI am more than happy to take that back to the department. The mandatory reporting applies to companies with more than 250 employees. I was not aware of the cases that the noble…27 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapMy Lords, the gender pay gap has fallen by approximately a quarter in the last decade. It was a Conservative Government who introduced gender pay gap reporting, building on the…27 Feb 2024HANSARDGender Pay GapIn response to the noble Baroness’s first question, as she understands very well, a number of factors influence how quickly the gender pay gap will decline. Obviously, there is so…27 Feb 2024