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Departmental Research
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list all Department for Education and employment-funded pilots, trials and research studies which have been conducted since 1990 in (a) Doncaster, (b) Mexborough, (c) Doncaster travel-to-work area and (d) Mexborough travel-to-work area identifying (i) title, summary and duration of the pilot/trial, (ii) target population and total number of participants and (iii) whether each pilot, trial or research finding was published and the date of publication; and if she will list all other non-Department for Education and Employment research bodies or organisations involved in each pilot, trial or research scheme. [19088]
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Mr. Paice: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy in the Library.
Schools (Admission Policies)
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list those bodies involved in the consultation exercise in respect of schools' admission policies which favoured allowing schools the option to select up to 15 per cent. of pupils by aptitude or ability; and what proportion of the total number of organisations consulted these represent. [21056]
Mrs. Gillan: The draft admissions circular, issued for consultation on 8 January, set out the Secretary of State's view that schools could select up to 15 per cent. of pupils with reference to ability or aptitude without having to publish statutory proposals. The previous benchmark for which statutory proposals had been necessary was 10 per cent. in certain subjects. A total of 218 responses were received from the around 1,500 bodies consulted. Some 94 of the responses made no reference to this interpretation of existing legislation. Of the 124 which did comment on the new interpretation, 15 welcomed the Secretary of State's view. The other responses included opposition to selection and concern about the impact on the provision of places locally. The following supported the Secretary of State's view and were content for their responses to be made public under the code of practice on access to government information:
Bennett Memorial School, Kent
Castle Hall School, West Yorkshire
Chancellors School, Hatfield
Chatham House Grammer School, Kent
Chelmsford County High School for Girls, Essex
The City Technology Colleges Trust
Davonport High School for Boys, Devon
Funding Agency for Schools
Grant Maintained Schools Advisory Committee
Hayes School, Bromley
The King John School, Essex
Oldfield School for Girls, Avon
St. Clement Danes School, Hertfordshire
Thomas More School, Surrey
Wandsworth Borough Council, Education Department.
Personal Performance Consultants
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what steps she is taking to ensure that Personal Performance Consultants is not given unfair commercial advantage through being allowed special access to employment services staff under their contract to provide welfare services; [21166]
- (2) which welfare services are to be provided for employment service staff by Personal Performance Consultants under the contract recently awarded to it; and what is the cost of the contract. [21167]
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Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the questions 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. John McAllion, dated 20 March 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the decision to award a contract to Personal Performance Consultants (PPC) to provide welfare services to those employed within the Employment Service (ES).
My decision to award the contract to PPC was reached following a market test carried out in accordance with the Cabinet Office Efficiency Unit Guidance. It represents best value for money to ES and therefore better value for money to the taxpayer. The services to be provided by PPC under this contract cover information, advisory and counselling services both face to face and by telephone; and support to line and personnel managers within ES. The details of these services were set out clearly in the specification of our requirements. They do not allow PPC to acquire commercial advantage in offering advise to ES employees.
The amount to be paid to PPC under this contract will be determined by the number of people it is to cover. As the numbers employed in ES may vary during the life of the contract it is not possible to give a definitive contract value. However, using the indicative volumes utilised during the evaluation process it would be around £3.2 million over three years.
I hope this is helpful.
School Child Care Grant Initiative
Mr. McAllion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places have been created, and how much money has been (a) spent and (b) allocated each year under the out of school child care grant initiative. [21168]
Mrs. Gillan: The following table below sets out this information in respect of England.
| Out of school child care initiative | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allocation (£ million) | 2,437 | 12,760 | 17,516 |
| Expenditure (£ million) | 2,283 | 11,458 | (7)13,306 |
| Places created (1,000s) | 4,000 | 22,286 | (7)30,859 |
(7) Figures provided for 1995-96 reflect the position up to the end of February 1996.
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Executive Jobclub, Wirral
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the value of the grant paid to the executive jobclub in Wirral; how many people use the service; what is the success rate of service users in finding jobs after leaving the club; what is the current budget for this financial year; and what is the projected budget for the next two financial years. [21231]
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. Frank Field, dated 20 March 1996:
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The Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your written question about payments made to the organisation running the Wirral Executive Jobclub, and the projected budgets for the Jobclub for the next two financial years.
The Employment Service (ES) has, for a number of years, awarded commercial contracts, after tendering, to external organisations and companies to run its programmes to assist unemployed people. The programmes and contractual agreements are regularly reviewed and monitored locally by ES staff.
Jobclubs have proved very successful since they were introduced over ten years ago, and the Wirral Executive Jobclub opened in October 1994, with both morning and afternoon sessions.
During the period April 1995 to February 1996, 277 people have used both sessions of the Wirral Executive Jobclub, resulting in 122 job placings. However, performance has declined in the second half of the year in both Jobclubs. In the period April to October 1995, 79 job placings were achieved by the Jobclubs, compared with 43 for the period November 1995 to February 1996. Total positive outcomes including job placings and training have shown a similar decline from 103 for the period April to October 1995 to 53 for the period November 1995 to February 1996. The ES does not track clients after they have left Jobclubs, so it is not possible to say how many enter employment after leaving.
As financial renumeration is a commercial matter between the ES and its programme providers, I am unable to provide details for the Wirral Executive Jobclub. However, the total Jobclub budget allocation for the Wirral ES District for the 1995/96 financial year is £383,102. Projected budgets for Es programmes for the 1996/97 and 1997/98 financial years have not been finalised.
I hope this is helpful.
Travel-to-interview Scheme
Mr. Ian McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) for how long, and between what dates, the pilot of a revised travel-to-interview scheme took place in the north-west region in 1995; [21696]
- (2) how many unemployed people were assisted by the travel-to-interview scheme in the north-west region during the pilot scheme in 1995, involving the relaxation of the rules; what would have been the figure if the rules that applied to the rest of the United Kingdom had been applied; and how many would have been assisted (a) under the criteria set by the pilot if the qualifying period had changed to 13 weeks of unemployment and (b) if the rules that applied to the rest of the United Kingdom had been applied with the qualifying period changed to 13 weeks of unemployment. [21698]
Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the questions 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 20 March 1996:
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