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Project Work
Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in what circumstances a claimant participating in a part-time education or training course will not be required to attend the compulsory work experience element of project work; and, where such attendance is, required, what protection will be afforded to the claimant's rights in respect of course attendance. [18752]
Mr. Forth [holding answer 4 March 1996]: Claimants who are participating in part-time education and training will not be exempted, for that reason, from the requirement to attend project work for a 21-hour week. Providers of work experience will be required, however, to tailor the pattern of hours in order to accommodate the claimant's studies.
Travel-to-interview Scheme
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will place a copy of the review report on the travel-to-interview scheme and the date on which the report was based in the Library. [19102]
Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mike Fogden to Mr. Ian McCartney, dated 5 March 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about placing a copy of the review report on the Travel to Interview Scheme and the raw data upon which the report was based in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Forth:
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mike Fogden to Mr. Ian McCartney, dated 5 March 1996:
5 Mar 1996 : Column: 179
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many days were taken to carry out European social fund audits on each TEC in Greater London. [18517]
Mr. Paice:
Since September 1992, five visits have been carried out by auditors from the Department's ESF unit and from European institutions to TECs in Greater London looking specifically at European social fund activity. A total of 10 man days have been spent by Department staff on site visits, and a total of six days have been spent by European institution auditors.
In addition to the site visits, time has been spent on preparatory and follow-up work. The amount of time spent on this activity is not recorded on an individual case basis.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many different types of audit each TEC in Great Britain has undergone. [18519]
Mr. Paice:
Training and enterprise councils in England are private limited companies and, since they were established in 1990-91, they have been audited each year by their statutory auditors. They are also required to have an effective internal audit function.
Government office financial appraisal and monitoring teams check contract compliance regularly and each TEC is also subject to Government office audits on health and safety and quality assurance arrangements with its suppliers.
The Department's internal audit team also visits a small sample of TECs each year as part of a biennial examination of Government office expenditure. Their role is to provide the necessary assurance to the DFEE accounting officer that moneys voted by Parliament have been properly disbursed. They also undertake work on behalf of other Government Departments to minimise the number of different Government auditors visiting TECs.
The National Audit Office visits a small sample of TECs each year as part of its examination of the Department's appropriation account. The NAO may also from time to time pay visits to TECs as part of its wider role in researching, for example, value-for-money issues.
Where TECs are in receipt of funding from the European Commisison, they are under an obligation to grant access to representatives of the Commission of the European Court of Auditors to examine its records at any reasonable time. The Department also conducts specialised monitoring of TEC claims from the European social fund.
Responsibility for auditing arrangements for TECs in Wales and local enterprise councils in Scotland rests respectively with the Secretary of State for Wales and the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many days were taken to carry out quality and health and safety audits on each TEC in Greater London. [18516]
5 Mar 1996 : Column: 180
Mr. Paice:
Government office for London staff spent 14 person days on quality and health and safety audits in each training and enterprise council in London.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many days were taken to carry out financial control audits on each TEC in Greater London. [18518]
Mr. Paice:
The number of person days spent on financial controls audits in London training and enterprise councils during the last 12 months was as follows:
Mr. Paice:
This information is not available.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the cost of carrying out quality and health and safety audits on each of the Greater London TECs. [18514]
Mr. Paice:
The estimated cost for each training and enterprise council of carrying out quality and health and safety audits during the last 12 months was £2,100.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the cost of carrying out financial control audits on each of the Greater London TECs. [18515]
Mr. Paice:
The estimated cost of carrying out financial control audits in each of the London training and enterprise councils during the last 12 months was as follows:
Mr. Paice:
I am pleased to announce the award of a three-year licence to Essex, North London and North West London training and enterprise councils and Northamptonshire chamber of commerce, training and enterprise which have now completed the process of meeting the rigorous standards we set.
5 Mar 1996 : Column: 181
Mr. Blunkett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if she will provide the GCSE average point score (A*=7) per 15-year-old pupil of each secondary comprehensive school in England by local education authority in each year from 1991 to 1995 as calculated by her Department, together with the number of such pupils per school in each year and the percentages of those pupils achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A to C, at least five GCSEs at Grades A to G, at least one GCSE at grades A to C and at least one GCSE at Grades A to G; [18887]
Mrs. Gillan:
I will write to the hon. Member as soon as possible and place a copy of the answer in the Library.
Mr. Blunkett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what plans the Office for Standards in Education has to introduce a method of assessing the comparative effectiveness of secondary comprehensive schools in terms of their pupils' GCSE achievements in relation to their capabilities, as measured by statistically estimated GCSE scores derived from social characteristics, in all its inspections from April 1996; to what extent these will apply the method and characteristics set out in Ofsted's report of July 1995 "Assessing Schools' GCSE Performance"; and if she will make a statement; [18888]
(3) if she will make a statement on the Ofsted report of July 1995 entitled, "Assessing Schools' GCSE Performance", in respect of the findings of its research on the indicators of the comparative effectiveness of all English secondary comprehensive schools in terms of the standards of GCSE achievements in relation of Ofsted's statistically estimated assessments of pupils' capabilities. [18890]
5 Mar 1996 : Column: 182
Mr. Robin Squire:
These are matters for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, who heads the Office for Standards in Education. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.
Mr. McCartney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people unemployed for between four and 13 weeks, by region, have applied for, and how many have been granted, assistance from the travel-to-interview scheme since its inception. [19100]
It is anticipated that a copy of the report will be placed in the House of Commons Library. Research reports are designed to be comprehensive in their content so it is not normal practice to place copies of the raw data in the Library.
I hope this is helpful.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question on how many people unemployed for between four and thirteen weeks, by region, have applied for, and how many have been granted, assistance from the Travel to Interview Scheme since its inception.
I am unable to provide the information you ask for, as my Jobcentres do not record how long people who apply for TIS have been unemployed. However, during a recent evaluation it was recorded that 26% of applications were from people unemployed for less than 13 weeks.
I hope this is helpful.
Mr. Meacher:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the cost of carrying out European social fund audits on each of the Greater London TECs. [18520]
AZTEC: 216
CENTEC: 208
CILNTEC: 163
LETEC: 229
NLTEC: 169
NWLTEC: 186
SOLOTEC: 217
WLTEC: 261
Dr. Twinn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress Essex, North London and North West London training and enterprise councils, and Northamptonshire chamber of commerce, training and enterprise are making in meeting the criteria for the award of a three-year licence. [19337]
AZTEC: £27,000
CENTEC: £25,000
CILNTEC: £20,000
LETEC: £24,000
NLTEC: £17,000
NWLTEC: £23,000
SOLOTEC: £22,000
WLTEC: £31,000
(2) if she will provide figures for the average number of GCSE subjects entered per pupil, to three decimal places, in each year since 1991 for each individual 20th group of all 15-year-old pupils ranked according to their average point scores (A*=7), for the cumulative 20th groups, indicating the numbers of each group and of the whole cohort in each case, in respect of (a) all such pupils in England, (b) all such pupils in the local education authority maintained sector, excluding those of grant-maintained schools, (c) all such pupils in the grant-maintained sector, (d) all such pupils in the maintained sector excluding those from independent schools and (e) all such pupils from the independent sector. [18891]
(2) if she will list (a) Ofsted's comparative school effectiveness indicators alongside the name of each school and its local education authority for each of the secondary comprehensive schools included in the analysis of its report "Assessing Schools' GCSE Performance" of July 1995, (b) Ofsted's expected three-year average of the annual GCSE point score (A*=7) for each of these schools for 1992 to 1994, (c) each school's actual three-year average of its point scores in the same period and (d) such information for the period 1993 to 1995 as is available; [18889]
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