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Consultants
Mr. David Shaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the contracts for consultancy work between (a) her Department and (b) training and enterprise councils and (i) Millbank Consultants Ltd., (ii) Paddington Consultancy Partnership Ltd., (iii) Mr. Neale Coleman, (iv) Mr. Stephen Hilditch and (v) Mr. Peter Bradley; and if she will indicate the total fees paid to (i) to (v). [30660]
Mr. Robin Squire: According to existing databases, the Department has not entered into any contracts with the consultants as named, either in its own right or in conjunction with any training and enterprise council. TECs are private companies and are not required to inform the Department of contracts that they enter into in their own right.
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Departmental Staff
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list (a) the number of (i) male and (ii) female employees, (b) the number of officials employed at each of the principal grades and the number and percentage of women employed at each of these grades and (c) the number of staff employed at administrative grades and the number and percentage of these staff who are women in her Department on 1 April. [30559]
Mr. Robin Squire: The table shows the number of full-time equivalent staff at 1 April 1996, including the Employment Service and the Teachers' Pensions Agency.
| Grade, including equivalents | Men | Women | Total number of staff | Women as a percentage of total staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Secretary | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Director-General | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Director | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| Divisional Manager | 96 | 30 | 126 | 23.8 |
| Grade 6 | 46 | 14 | 60 | 23.3 |
| Grade 7 | 493 | 175 | 668 | 26.2 |
| SEO | 570 | 323 | 893 | 36.2 |
| HEO | 1,538 | 1,319 | 2,857 | 46.2 |
| EO | 4,176 | 8,188 | 12,364 | 66.2 |
| AO | 5,817 | 16,047 | 21,860 | 73.4 |
| AA | 494 | 979 | 1470 | 66.5 |
| Total | 13,256 | 27,071 | 40,324 | 67.1 |
Private Investigators
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what use her Department has made of private detective agencies or investigators during 1995-96 and 1994-95; which agencies have been employed; for what purposes; and at what cost to her Department. [30574]
Mr. Robin Squire: The Department for Education and Employment made no use of private detective agencies or investigators during 1995-96 and 1994-95.
Careers Service
Mr. Eastham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 17 May, Official Report, column 600, what arrangements are in place for ensuring that the objectivity and impartiality of the careers service will be delivered; and what will be the involvement of (a) schools, (b) employers, (c) pupils and (d) parents. [31041]
Mr. Paice: I refer the hon. Member to the replies that I gave on 17 May 1996, Official Report, columns 599 and 600. The arrangements described there for quality assuring and inspecting careers services involve seeking the views of schools, employers, pupils and parents as appropriate. The arrangements are set out in the "Requirements and Guidance for Providers", a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Eastham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer 17 May, Official Report, column 599, what steps were
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taken to replace the input of the inspector with the possible conflict of interest; and what terms and conditions of service apply to his successor. [31045]
Mr. Paice: There is no longer a specific careers inspector post; therefore, the inspector has not been replaced.
Mr. Eastham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the funding provided to the careers service will be protected and enhanced in areas where there is increased population; and how the targets set for the service reflect the needs of individuals. [31043]
Mr. Paice: Funding for careers service work is allocated to Government offices based on the number of young people in each region. Government offices then have the flexibility to negotiate funding with individual careers services, taking into account the number of young people in the area and other relevant local circumstances.
The targets agreed with each careers service include group advice sessions, individual interviews and action plans for young people. These targets reflect the key purpose of the careers service which is to provide objective advice that enables young people to make appropriate choices.
Mr. Eastham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 7 May, Official Report, column 600, what plans her Department has to ensure that the careers service will cater for the needs of adults not in full-time education or part-time vocational education; and what is the timetable for the integration of adult guidance services with the careers service. [31042]
Mr. Paice:
There are no plans to expand the existing statutory careers service client group. However, the consultation document on lifetime learning published in December 1995 highlights the importance of guidance. The Government will be responding to the consultation shortly.
Mr. Eastham:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 17 May, Official Report, column 599, if local education authorities' partners in the new careers service are companies; and what is their strategic operational role in the delivery of careers services. [31044]
Mr. Paice:
The majority of new careers service companies have training and enterprise councils and local education authorities as major partners. A minority of careers service providers are other types of company with a major interest in guidance training and education. Additionally, the prospectus inviting bids to provide a careers service seeks clear proposals from bidders for achieving and maintaining the confidence, trust and support of key customers and stakeholders, including LEAs. The Secretary of State's "Requirements and Guidance for Providers" states that careers services must be able to demonstrate responsiveness to local community needs, including clients, local employers, local authorities, and education and training providers.
Mr. Kilfoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many foreign nationals have been given awards under the assisted places scheme. [30989]
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Mrs. Gillan:
Information about the nationality of children holding assisted places is not collected centrally. The number of foreign nationals is likely to be small. To be eligible for an assisted place, a child must have been ordinarily resident in the British Islands or, if a national of a country in the European Economic Area and a child of a migrant worker, in an EEA country, for two calendar years before taking up the place, unless of a refugee granted exceptional leave to enter or remain in the British Islands.
Mr. Soley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what statistics the Employment Service is required to keep on decisions relating to persons suspended from benefit for not actively seeking work. [31254]
Mr. Forth:
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Mike Fogden to Mr. Clive Soley, dated 4 June 1996:
Ms Estelle Morris:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what steps her Department is taking to ensure that additional resources allocated to reducing disruptive behaviour in schools will address the problems of excluded children from ethnic minorities; [31082]
(3) what plans her Department has to discuss with the Commission for Racial Equality the proportion of children from ethnic minorities among those excluded from school; [31072]
(4) what action her Department plans to take based on the data available to it regarding the number of ethnic minority children among those excluded from school. [31073]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The Department's guidance on exclusions, which was issued to all schools in May 1994, emphasises that disciplinary procedures should be applied
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objectively and consistently across all cultural groups and reminds head teachers that failure to do so could constitute unlawful racial discrimination under the Race Relations Act 1976.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about what statistics the Employment Service Agency is required to keep on decisions relating to persons suspended from benefit for not actively seeking work.
The actively seeking employment condition was introduced in the 1989 Social Security Act. Information on the number of decisions and disallowances issued to Unemployment Benefit claimants, including those in respect of the definition of actively seeking work, is contained in the quarterly summary entitled "Analysis of Adjudication Officers' Decisions", copies of which are held in the Library of the House. This information is available from 1 October 1989, when the actively seeking work condition was introduced, to the quarter ending March 1996.
Decisions to disallow Income Support claims because of failure to satisfy the actively seeking work condition are given by Adjudication Officers in the Benefits Agency of the Department of Social Security. Therefore, we do not hold information about the number of these disallowances.
I hope this is helpful.
(2) what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of ethnic minority children among those excluded from school; [31071]
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