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Part-time Study

Mr. Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in which areas and when the new approaches on part-time study arrangements will be piloted; and what particular aspects will be covered. [24148]

Mr. Forth: Once jobseeker's allowance has been established, we shall decide whether to pilot different arrangements for jobseekers who wish to study while claiming JSA.

Humanities Courses

Mr. Walden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the proportion of males to females on humanities courses in British higher education. [24016]

Mr. Forth: The proportion of all female enrolments on humanities courses in UK higher education in 1994-95 was 52.2 per cent.

Grant-maintained Schools

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 26 March, Official Report, column 485, about grant-maintained schools, what is or will be the cost for each case listed; what is the cost in total; and if she will make a statement. [23903]

Mrs. Gillan: The following amounts of annual maintenance grant paid to grant-maintained schools in 1995-96 have not been recouped from the local education authority named:

1 Apr 1996 : Column: 29

	£
Alder Coppice primary school, Dudley	24,005
The Arnewood school, Hampshire	195,687
Bourne Abbey primary school, Lincolnshire	39,412
The Burgate school, Hampshire	117,765
Chellaston school, Derbyshire	150,765
Costessey high school, Norfolk	63,579
The Ellowes Hall school, Dudley	29,512
The Greensward school, Essex	233,206
Greenwood Dale school, Nottinghamshire	82,596
Heanor Gate school, Derbyshire	71,711
Holy Trinity CE primary school, Kent	19,688
Katherine's primary school, Essex	28,449
Merrill college, Debyshire	71,776
Ringwood comprehensive school, Hampshire	141,142
St. Anselm's college and Upton Hall convent school, Wirral (in total)	1,043,581
St. Peter and St. Paul RC high school, Lincolnshire	29,528
Sheringham high school, Norfolk	45,035
Wold Newton primary school, Humberside	20,194
Woodnewton Way infant school, Northamptonshire	40,894

Amounts of non-recoupable annual maintenance grant for 1995-96 have not been finalised in respect of Appleby primary school, Cumbria, and Eaglesfield Paddle CE primary school, Cumbria.

Job Clubs

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what are the forecast savings to the Employment Service of closing down the afternoon session of the Liverpool and Wirral executive job club; [24144]

(2) when the Liverpool and Wirral executive job club opened. [24145]

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. Frank Field, dated 1 April 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your two written questions concerning the forecast saving to the Employment Service (ES) by the closure of the afternoon session of the Liverpool and Wirral Executive Jobclub, and the date the Jobclub opened. I am responding to both questions in this reply.
The ES continually monitors its network of programme providers to ensure the quality of provision, and that this network offers adequate coverage for its clients.
With the continuing fall in eligible clients numbers throughout the Wirral and the region as a whole the ES has to ensure that its providers of services offer value for money.
Forecasts of savings to the ES of the closure of any programme sites are not made. This is in part due to the financial system of payment agreed with the provider at the contracting stage. I can say that the total Jobclub budget allocation for the Wirral ES District for the 1995/96 financial year is £383,102.

1 Apr 1996 : Column: 30

Where a decision is made to close a particular programme site, every effort is made to find alternative programme provision, where possible, for the remaining clients.
Wirral Executive Jobclub opened in October 1994 with both morning and afternoon sessions and it is planned to close the afternoon session from the 1 June. However the morning Jobclub session will remain open, thus maintaining an Executive Jobclub within the area.
I hope this is helpful.

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what measures her Department is taking to fulfil its obligations to the unemployed as outlined in the jobseeker's charter in the Liverpool and Wirral area; [24143]

(2) if she will make a statement on the minimum number of hours a job club should be open under the jobseeker's charter. [24142]

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. Frank Field, dated 1 April 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your two written questions concerning the minimum number of hours a Jobclub is required to remain open, and what steps the ES is taking to ensure its obligations are met under the Jobseeker's Charter in the Liverpool and Wirral area.
As both questions relate to the Jobseekers Charter I am responding to both questions in this reply.
The Jobseeker's Charter sets out obligations both of the Employment Service (ES) to deliver services, and of its clients. It informs jobseekers about the standards of service they can expect when visiting or calling ES offices or using its services, the help we provide, and what we expect from our clients. It is a valuable medium to demonstrate to jobseekers and others that we as an organisation are committed to looking at the services we provide, and that we actively seek to improve our standards, where possible. As part of this process, complaints about our services and suggestions for improving them are encouraged and welcomed.
As well as recording suggestions and complaints, the ES currently monitors performance on a quarterly basis against five standards of service set out in its Jobseeker's Charter. These are:
Telephone answering times (within 30 seconds);
Waiting times (Clients to be seen within 10 minutes);
Answering correspondence (replies to written correspondence within 5 working days);
Currency of vacancies (during a sample week);
Speed and accuracy of payments;
There are no separate set of standards for ES programmes or the providers who run them. However, programme providers are obliged to accept the standards set out in the Jobseeker's Charter, and are monitored locally to see that the standards are adhered to and that the achievement of standards are publicised locally.
Jobclubs are normally open for 12 hours per week, although they do not form part of the Jobseeker's Charter standards. However, these hours can be modified according to local circumstances and through the contractual agreement the ES has with the Jobclub provider.
I hope this is helpful.

1 Apr 1996 : Column: 31

Teachers' Superannuation Scheme

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the future administration of the teachers' superannuation scheme in England and Wales. [24471]

Mr. Robin Squire: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has decided to let a seven-year contract for the administration of teachers' pensions in England and Wales to Capita Managed Services Ltd. This will give savings to the taxpayer of about £20 million over the life of the contract.

We have consistently said that we will let a contract to the private sector only if it can be proved that it will give better value for money than keeping the administration of the teachers' superannuation scheme in the public sector. Capita Managed Services is committed to providing the high standards of service and performance that we have demanded, and has a record of doing so in other contracts. Capita will take over the administration of teachers' pensions on 1 October 1996.

Capita has declared its intention to maintain the administration of the TSS in Darlington. It is committed to a business growth strategy on the Darlington site. This commitment to Darlington, together with the transfer of the staff of the Teachers' Pensions Agency under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 offers the staff of the agency good prospects for the future.

The contract with Capita will concern only the administration of the TSS. The scheme itself will stay in the public sector, on its current statutory basis, and teachers' pensions will not be affected in any way. My right hon. Friend will remain responsible to Parliament for the scheme. Officials in the Department for Education and Employment will be responsible for advising Ministers on policy on teachers' pensions.

Research

Ms Rachel Squire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what additional support has been given to research within higher education institutions in the areas of sensor, data fusion and data processing technology since the 1995 report from the technology foresight panel. [23692]

Mr. Forth: Higher Education Funding Council for England funding for research is not earmarked but distributed as part of block grant which higher education institutions allocate at their discretion. It is for institutions themselves to decide what additional support to give to research in sensor, data fusion and data processing technology in the light of technology foresight findings.

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