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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

European Union

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the cost in the last 12 months of sending Ministers and officials to meetings in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe in connection with his Department's handling of EU business. [4943]

Mr. Paice: The cost to the DfEE of sending Ministers and accompanying officials to meetings related to European Union business between 1 November 1995 and 31 October 1996 was £13,072.51.

Many areas of the Department's business involve negotiation on EU matters. The cost of sending officials to meetings on EU business could be identified only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of her Department's time and resources are spent dealing with administrative and policy matters connected with British membership of the European Union. [4953]

Mr. Paice: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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Examination Results

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of young people in (a) England and Wales and (b) London gained five or more GCSEs at grade A to C or equivalent in (i) 1979-80, (ii) 1990-91 and (iii) 1995-96. [5276]

Mrs Gillan: The percentage of young people who gained five or more GCSEs at grades A to C or equivalent in England and in Greater London is as follows:

Percentage

	1979-80	1990-91	1995-96
England (all schools)	24.0	37.8	44.5
Greater London (all maintained schools)	19.7	29.7	39.0

The figures for 1979-80 and 1990-91 are based on percentages of school leavers of all ages and those for 1995-96 relate to 15-year-old pupils in schools.

The information for schools in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.

School Attendance (Electronic Monitoring)

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what studies her Department has made in conjunction with the National Council for Educational Technology of the possible benefits to secondary schools of electronic registration schemes; [5868]

(2) what is her Department's policy on evaluating the potential of information technology as a means for monitoring pupil attendance; [5869]

(3) what estimate she has made of the amount of teaching time which could be saved in the secondary school timetable by electronic registration systems. [5871]

Mr. Forth: Information technology can play an important part in helping some schools develop more effective means of monitoring attendance patterns, and thereby underpin measures to improve attendance rates. We have encouraged experimentation with school attendance applications of IT through the truancy, disruptive and disaffected pupils component of the grants for education support and training programme. An independent evaluation of this programme found that, if properly introduced, electronic registration systems could help schools to improve the consistency and reliability of attendance information. Further advice and information is available to schools and local education authorities from the National Council for Educational Technology.

Pupil Registration

Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received concerning the statutory requirements to register pupils in every lesson, as well as in the morning and afternoon. [5873]

Mr. Forth: By law, schools are required to take attendance registers at the start of both the morning and afternoon sessions. Schools may also call registers at the

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start of each lesson, but this is not a statutory requirement. My right hon. Friend receives a wide range of representations on the subject of pupil registration and school attendance more generally.

Investors in People

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many employers and of what size

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currently hold Investors in People status; and what percentage these constitute of all employers of that size in the area (a) for each of his Department's regions and (b) nationally. [6146]

Mr. Paice: The latest available data is provided in the following table:

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Number of organisations recognised as having achieved the investors in people standard and the percentage of these against agreed baselines of organisations with 50 or more employees: by Government office region and nationally

		Employer size
Region	< 50	50-199		200+		Total
	Number	Number	Percentage	Number	Percentage
North-East	102	67	5	80	16	249
North-West	178	126	4	131	14	435
Yorkshire and Humberside	203	122	4	100	12	425
Merseyside	75	52	8	41	20	168
West Midlands	174	137	4	146	17	457
East Midlands	127	91	4	90	13	308
Eastern counties	88	84	3	78	11	250
South-West	297	203	8	147	23	647
South-East	174	140	4	123	17	437
London	127	81	2	96	7	305
Total England	1,545	1,103	4	1,032	14	3,680

The agreed baselines are the numbers of organisations eligible for separate investors in people recognition of the relevant size as counted by English training and enterprise councils in spring this year. There are no equivalent baselines of under 50 employees.

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Former Incapacity Benefit Claimants

Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how much has been spent by her Department during 1995-96 on placing ex-incapacity benefit claimants who are signed on as unemployed into (a) jobplans, (b) jobclubs, (c) job interview guarantees and (d) referrals to placing, assessment and counselling teams; [6193]

(2) what is her estimate of the expenditure required for 1996-97 to place ex-incapacity benefit claimants who are signed on as unemployed into (a) jobplans, (b) jobclubs, (c) job interview guarantees and (d) referrals to placing, assessment and counselling teams. [6194]

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 M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Alan Howarth, dated 26 November 1996:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the expenditure for 1995-96 and 1996-97 on placing ex-Incapacity Benefit clients who are registered unemployed into various Employment Service programmes. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

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The anticipated number of ex-incapacity benefit (IB) people making a claim to unemployment benefits was 200,000 in 1995-96 and 145,000 in 1996-97. To support the Employment Service (ES) package of help for ex-IB clients resources were allocated through PES as follows:

	1995-96		1996-97
	Expected number of opportunities	Funding (£000)	Expected number of opportunities	Funding (£000)
Jobplan	86,000	9,632	68,150	7,837
Jobclub/JIG	70,000	13,230	58,000	11,252
PACT support	40,000	11,840	29,000	8,787
Total	196,000	34,702	155,150	27,876

The actual number of people who actually made a claim to unemployment benefits in 1995-96 was 40,257, which was substantially less than the anticipated figure. The table below shows the actual numbers and associated costs of those attending Jobplan, Jobclub, JIG and having PACT support in 1995-96:

	1995-96
	Number taking up opportunities	Actual spend (£)
Jobplan	350	39,200
Jobclub/JIG	855	161,595
PACT support	9,380	2,776,480
Total	10,585	2,977,275




I hope this is helpful.

26 Nov 1996 : Column: 173

Mr. Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 12 November, Official Report, column 133, if she will publish the results of the research carried out by the Employment Service occupational psychology division, including its recommendations; and if she will implement those recommendations. [6191]

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 M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Alan Howarth, dated 26 November 1996:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about whether the results of the research carried out by the Employment Service Occupational Psychology Division, including its recommendations will be published. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

In my letter of 12 November 1996, Official Report Column 133, I explained that work had been carried out to consider the appropriateness of the package the Employment Service (ES) had put in place to help jobseekers who have previously claimed Incapacity Benefit (IB) to return to employment. Occupational Psychology Division is now considering their findings so that a report can be prepared which will contain a discussion of the implications for the process of helping these jobseekers. Once this report has been published, I will arrange for a copy to be sent to you, and a copy placed in the Library of the House. I will be considering the findings further, with a view to implementing changes where possible to do so.
I hope this is helpful.

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