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Assisted Places Scheme
Mr. David Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places are available in England under the assisted places scheme in the current academic year; and how many have been taken up so far. [14085]
Mrs. Gillan: Some 37,800 assisted places are available in England in the current academic year, 1996-97. Final figures will be available when all participating schools' returns have been received and processed.
Mr. Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to announce further allocations in England under the assisted places scheme for new entry for September 1997. [13923]
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Mrs. Gillan: I shall shortly announce further details about the assisted places scheme.
Surplus Places
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to the oral statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment of 28 January, Official Report, columns 191-92, concerning the reduction of the number of surplus places in maintained schools (a) what was the reduction in numbers over the last 10 years and (b) what is the arithmetical basis used to calculate future reductions. [14089]
Mr. Robin Squire: Information on a comparable basis on the number of surplus places was collected for the first time in 1994. Between January 1994 and January 1996, there was a reduction of just under 201,000 in the number of surplus places in maintained schools. A reduction of about half in the level of surplus places over the past 10 years is derived from the comparison with estimated figures recorded in Audit Commission reports in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. We do not seek to calculate future reductions precisely. The annual surplus place return asks authorities to provide projections of future pupil numbers--four years hence in the case of primary, and seven years in the case of secondary--and to comment on expected changes, both additions and reductions, to the capacity of schools. On the basis of that broad indication of the likely future position, we consult authorities which will apparently continue to have high levels of surplus about the extent to which any of that surplus is in practice removable.
Jobseekers (Benefit Sanctions)
Mr. Alan Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what benefit sanctions can be imposed on an unemployment claimant if he (a) does not apply for a part-time job of less than 24 hours per week if a jobseeker's direction is issued instructing him to make this type of application and (b) does not accept the offer of a part-time job of less than 24 hours per week from the Employment Service; which jobseeker's allowance regulations provide the basis for these sanctions; and if she will make a statement. [14243]
Mr. Forth: Section 19 of the Jobseekers Act 1995 provides that jobseekers are subject to a benefit sanction if they refuse or fail, without good cause, to carry out a reasonable jobseeker's direction. A direction must be given in writing by an employment officer with a view to assisting the jobseeker to find employment or improving his prospects of being employed. Regulation 69 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996 provides that the sanction in these circumstances is loss of benefit for two weeks, or four weeks if a separate fixed-length sanction has already been imposed within the previous 12 months.
Section 19 of the Act also provides that jobseekers are subject to a benefit sanction of up to 26 weeks if they refuse, without good cause, to apply for or accept an employment opportunity notified to them by an employment officer. Regulation 72(5)(c) provides they have good cause for refusing jobs of less than 24 hours a week. A short fixed-length sanction can therefore be imposed for an unreasonable failure to act on a direction
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to apply for a particular job of less than 24 hours, but a further sanction of up to 26 weeks cannot be imposed for a refusal to accept the same job.
The guidance issued to Employment Service jobcentres stresses that staff should be particularly careful before giving a jobseeker's direction in respect of a job of less than 24 hours a week. Jobseekers should be directed to apply for such jobs only if this would improve their prospects of finding further work, or the job is sufficiently well paid to enable them to leave JSA altogether.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the number of children in England currently attending pupil referral units; and what is the average cost of such a place. [14149]
Mr. Forth:
The latest information collected by the Department through the schools census shows that, as of January 1996, there were 11,055 pupils registered at pupil referral units. Of those, 4,183 were also registered at a mainstream school. We do not hold information centrally on the average cost of a place in a PRU.
Mrs. Maddock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress the Government have made in fulfilling their commitment to implement action 190(d) of the Beijing platform for action; and what future action the Government plan to take. [14222]
Mrs. Gillan:
The Government report "One Year On", a copy of which has been placed in the Library, outlines Government action taken in the last year to implement the platform for action and plans for further implementation. No action on recommendation 190(d) has been taken to date. The Council of Europe fourth European ministerial conference on equality between women and men, to be held in November 1997, will consider the impact of different electoral systems on the representation of women in elected bodies in different countries; we await the outcome of that meeting.
Mr. Peter Bottomley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will place in the Library the evidence submitted by her Department to the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education since the papers submitted in July 1996. [14497]
Mr. Forth:
A copy of the recent evidence submitted by the Department on the size and structure of higher education has today been placed in the Library.
Sir Teddy Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the low pay scheme was introduced in Southend-on-Sea; how many grants have been awarded; what is the total Government expenditure involved; and if he will provide details of the range of payments made under the scheme. [13509]
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Mr. Roger Evans:
Earnings top-up was introduced on October 8 1996 in eight pilot areas, including Southend. The three-year pilot has started successfully with more than 7,000 people receiving earnings top-up 1 --more than 350 of them in the Southend area. The pilot is expected to cost a total of £65 million over three years.
| Single person under 25 | Single person 25 and over | Couple | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Scheme A | |||
| Working 16-29 hours per week | 22.75 | 28.00 | 46.45 |
| Working 30+ hours a week | 33.05 | 38.30 | 56.75 |
| Scheme B | |||
| Working 16-29 hours a week | 22.75 | 28.00 | 56.05 |
| Working 30+ hours a week | 33.05 | 38.30 | 66.35 |
1. As at 31 January 1997.
2. Payments at the maxima quoted were in payment at 31 January 1997.
TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Post Offices
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many post offices there were in (a) Carmarthenshire, (b) Dyfed and (c) Wales in each year since 1979. [13090]
Mr. Page: I understand from the Post Office that, due to boundary changes in Wales and changes to administrative boundaries at Post Office Counters Ltd., data on the number of post offices in Carmarthenshire and Dyfed in each year since 1979 could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
| Year | Number of post offices in Wales |
|---|---|
| 1987 | 2,134 |
| 1988 | 2,138 |
| 1989 | 2,104 |
| 1990 | 2,087 |
| 1991 | 2,057 |
| 1992 | 2,004 |
| 1993 | 1,986 |
4 Feb 1997 : Column: 560
Dr Howells: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the number of sub-agency Crown status and franchised post offices in (a) each English region, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland in each year since 1979; how many of each category of post office in each case were opened or closed since 1979; and how many have changed their status since 1979. [11001]
Mr. Page [holding answer 16 January 1997]: I understand from the Post Office that, due to reorganisation and changes in administrative regional boundaries at Post Office Counters Ltd., records are no longer available to provide the information for the full period requested. The information which Post Office Counters Ltd. have available is set out in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Tables 1 to 10 show a breakdown of the national network of post offices as at the end of March for each year since 1987 between directly operated main post offices--Crown offices--other main post offices, which include franchise offices, and sub-post offices. The geographical apportionment of these figures is Post Office Counters' best estimate. Table 11 shows the net change in the number of offices in each of the three categories during the 1995-96 financial year. Comparable figures for earlier years are not available.
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