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Legal Action (Public Funding)
Mr. Lilley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what public funding has been provided for to fund legal action currently being undertaken by his special adviser, Mrs. Sue Nye. [13983]
Mr. Gordon Brown [holding answer 3 November 1997]: None.
Two-pound Coin
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the delay in introduction of the £2 coin. [13365]
Mrs. Liddell [holding answer 3 November 1997]: The Government have decided to change the launch date of the £2 circulation coin from 3 November 1997 to March 1998 because of a potential problem with the "electronic signature" of the coin in vending and other machines. A further statement will be made when investigative work is completed.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Higher Education
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action he intends to take to implement the Dearing Committee's recommendations on governing bodies in higher education; and if he will make a statement. [14061]
Dr. Howells: We are considering the responses to the consultation exercise undertaken following publication of the report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, including the views received on the recommendations on governing bodies in higher education, and will announce our response later in the year.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of 16 to 19-year-olds in Warrington, North constituency, broken down by ward, entered higher education in (a) 1996-97 and (b) in each of the last five years. [14060]
Dr. Howells: The information requested is not compiled centrally because, although the HESA data include the post code of each student, this is not routinely aggregated to below local authority level. The available HESA data show the number of students aged under 20 whose home LEA was Cheshire and who entered a higher education course in a UK higher education establishment (Warrington comprises around 19 per cent. of Cheshire in general population terms). The figures were 3,400 in 1994-95, 3,900 in 1995-96 and 4,300 in 1996-97. Comparable data for the years prior to 1994-95 are not readily available.
Helen Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he intends to take to encourage higher education funding bodies to finance pilot projects which allocate additional funds to institutions which enrol students from particularly disadvantaged localities; and if he will make a statement. [14059]
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Dr. Naysmith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will follow the recommendations of the Dearing report in respect of allocating funds for higher education to those institutions committed to widening participation; and what support he plans to offer to those universities to help plan and monitor admissions and participation levels. [14359]
Dr. Howells:
The Government are committed to increasing and widening access to higher education. My hon. Friend recently announced an extra £165 million for higher education in 1998-99, which includes a £36 million access package, which will benefit part-time students and those facing particular hardship, as well as an extra £4 million to enable more students to participate in higher education.
We welcome the recommendations of the Dearing report for widening access, in particular that additional funding for university places should be targeted at those institutions which put forward plans for widening access. We shall be following up these recommendations in the light of the responses to the consultation on the Dearing report.
In the meantime, we welcome the decision by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to reconvene its Advisory Group on Access and Participation. The group will be considering the possibilities for further action, including the specific actions proposed by the Dearing Committee, and will advise the Council on its access and participation strategies, including joint activity with the Further Education Funding Council and other partners.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils living in (a) the Devon county council area and (b) the Torbay travel-to-work area have been funded by the assisted places scheme in each of the last three years. [13894]
Mr. Byers:
Information about the county council or travel-to-work areas from which assisted pupils originate is not collected centrally. The numbers of assisted pupils in participating schools in Devon in academic years 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 were 793,817 and 942 respectively.
Mr. Corbyn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have been refused all jobseeker's allowance payments after interview; and what proportion this is of those interviewed. [14216]
Mr. Alan Howarth:
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 Leigh Lewis to Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, dated 5 November 1997:
5 Nov 1997 : Column: 227
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the policy of his Department on the purchase of tax avoidance advice; and if he will make a statement. [13256]
Dr. Howells:
The Department's policy on tax advice is that tax avoidance advice may be necessary where there are complex tax issues. However, the Department would not incur expenditure on advice to reduce tax liability where the reduction does not relate to the pursuit of real gains in efficiency.
In practice, where particularly difficult tax issues arise, the Department consults the Inland Revenue or HM Customs directly. The Department has not purchased outside tax avoidance advice, and has no plans so to do.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the expenditure by (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) non departmental public bodies on (i) tax consultants and (ii) other external tax advice in (1) 1995-96, (2) 1996-97 and (3) 1997-98; and if he will make a statement. [13255]
5 Nov 1997 : Column: 228
Dr. Howells:
Neither the Department nor any of its agencies has incurred any such expenditure. Where difficult tax issues arise, the Department consults the Inland Revenue or HM Customs directly.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about how many people have been refused all Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) after interview, and what proportion this is of those interviewed. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
The Employment Service conducts many different types of interview with jobseekers. These start at the new claims stage and develop as unemployment lengthens. The new jobseeker's interview is important in establishing whether jobseekers meet the labour market conditions for receiving JSA. It is normally at this stage that a Jobseeker's Agreement is drawn up and jobseekers are made aware of their responsibilities in order to receive JSA. Thereafter, entitlement to JSA is reviewed at interviews every fortnight. We also use these opportunities to offer jobseekers further advice and help in their search for work. Jobseekers are also asked to attend a Restart Interview at regular six monthly intervals at which they are offered further advice and information about employment and training opportunities. Beyond this interviews may take place for a variety of other reasons.
Questions about a jobseeker's entitlement to JSA could arise at any of the interviews referred to above. In these instances, there may be a reference to an independent Adjudication Officer for a decision on benefit entitlement.
Statistics on the numbers and types of decisions given by ES Adjudication Officers on labour market questions are recorded in a quarterly summary, the 'Analysis of Adjudication Officers' Decisions', a copy of which is held in the Library. As questions about a person's entitlement can arise during different types of interviews, it would be misleading to compare the total figures of disallowances with the total numbers of ES interviews in any given period. JSA claims can be disallowed on labour market grounds or because of failure to meet the conditions of benefit receipt. However, some broad indication of volumes can be given by comparing the total number of JSA new claims with the number of awards of "nil benefits". This means simply the number of JSA new claims that, following assessment by Benefits Agency who are responsible for JSA payment, result in no payment award. This could be for a wide variety of reasons for inadequate contributions, payments from previous employment, etc, to failure to meet the labour market conditions for receipt of JSA.
In the period from 1 April 1997 to 30 September 1997, 1,571,325 claims to JSA were processed and there were 239,567 awards of nil benefits. These figures are based primarily on information held by the JSA Payments System. They include a small number of claims held on the earlier ISCS system because they linked back to an earlier Income Support claim.
I hope this is helpful.
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