| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Student Placements
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what financial support his Department offers to full-time students on sandwich courses who are unable to find paid placements; [23961]
- (2) what proposals the Government have to assist students spending a year in an industrial placement. [23965]
Dr. Howells: Students who hold mandatory awards for a sandwich course are not normally eligible for maintenance support during their placements. They can expect to be paid for their productive work by the employer with which they are placed. Where students have unpaid placements in many parts of the public service they exceptionally continue to be eligible for means-tested maintenance support as part of their award in substitution for payment by the employer. Students in either category who are unable to find placements are not eligible for maintenance support unless their institution is able to make suitable alternative provision for them.
Students on sandwich courses can apply for the appropriate rate of loan in any year in which there is a placement where the student and the course are eligible for loans. Provided that they are attending their course, whether at the institution or on a placement, when an application is made for a loan it can be paid.
Welfare to Work
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the (a) private sector companies and (b) public sector departments which have provided jobs for the employer option of the Welfare to Work scheme, indicating the number of jobs each has provided. [24493]
Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 22 January 1996]: The information requested is not held centrally. Nine thousand employers have expressed interest in taking part in the New Deal, the overwhelming majority in the private sector.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people in the employer option of the Welfare to Work scheme are in jobs in the (a) private and (b) public sector. [24490]
26 Jan 1998 : Column: 87
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 22 January 1998]: The large majority of jobs on the New Deal Employment option will be in the private sector, reflecting the balance in the workforce as a whole.
An important feature of the New Deal is the provision of advice during the Gateway period, prior to taking up new deal options including the Employment option. The New Deal started in the 12 pathfinder areas on 5 January.
In the first two weeks there have been 107 referrals to the private sector employment option and six to the public sector option.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if the New Deal for 18 to 24 year olds will be voluntary in circumstances where a claimant has been unemployed for six months and broken his claim for between one and 28 days. [25559]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Young people who would have reached six months on the Jobseeker's Allowance and would have entered the New Deal Gateway but for short breaks in their claim totalling not more than 28 days will be able to choose to join the New Deal early.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what would be the cost of extending the education and training options of the New Deal for 18 to 24 year olds to allow those eligible to take a level 3 course or equivalent as set out in schedule 2 of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and section 6 of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992. [25566]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Although primarily designed for young people without N/SVQ 2 or equivalent level qualifications, the Full-Time Education and Training option of the New Deal for 18 to 24 year olds also allows some young people to study towards a Level 3 qualification, where there is a clear link between achievement of the qualification and increased employability. The cost will depend on the bids by education and training providers. Young people may also study part-time for a qualification above Level 2 through the education and training element of the other three options.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if an 18 to 24-year-old who has completed a New Deal option and then claimed jobseeker's allowance for a further six months will be re-referred to the Gateway and New Deal. [25558]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
We are making a major investment to help young people move off welfare and find sustained employment, and to avoid as far as possible (for example through a follow-through strategy for people who return to JSA shortly after completing an option) the circumstances described. Any young person who found themselves in this position would of course have the right to further help from the New Deal.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in what circumstances a lone parent who claims jobseeker's allowance to enter the New Deal programme for 18 to 24-year-olds will be allowed to return to income support if they are issued with a jobseeker's allowance or New Deal sanction. [25557]
26 Jan 1998 : Column: 88
Mr. Andrew Smith:
Any lone parent claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) who would be eligible for Income Support would always have the option of terminating the claim to JSA and claiming Income Support instead.
Mr. Rooney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places will be available in the next five years under the education and training options of the New Deal for the over 25-year-old long-term unemployed. [25555]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
We have made provision for at least 10,000 additional opportunities, over the lifetime of this Parliament, for those aged 25 years or over, unemployed for two years or more, to undertake courses of full-time employment-related education and training for up to a year while receiving Jobseeker's Allowance.
Dr. Cable:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what criteria will be employed in approving mergers and acquisitions involving further education colleges; what will be the consultation process for staff and local communities; and if he will make a statement on his policy. [23959]
Dr. Howells:
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will normally consider further education corporation mergers on the basis of a formal proposal from the Further Education Funding Council for England and following a statutory consultation process. He will consider each case on its merits. The Council assesses proposals against criteria which include educational and financial benefits, the likely success of the proposed reorganisation and the extent of consultation and the consideration given to alternative proposals. There are opportunities for the involvement of staff and local communities during preliminary consultations conducted locally and then following the formal issue of statutory notices by the Council prior to the submission of the proposal to my right hon. Friend for a final decision.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to expand the literacy hour scheme (a) nationally and (b) in Leicestershire. [23565]
Mr. Byers:
We expect the norm for all primary schools to be the implementation of a daily literacy hour from this September, as part of the strategy to meet our national literacy target for 2002.
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many literacy schools (a) were in operation in summer 1997 and (b) are planned to be in operation in summer 1998 (i) nationally, (ii) in the East Midlands and (iii) in Leicestershire. [23563]
Mr. Byers:
A pilot of 50 Summer Literacy Schools supporting 1,500 pupils was in operation last year. The scheme will be expanded in 1998 to cover 500 schools and 16,000 pupils nationally. Decisions have not yet been taken on where Summer Literacy Schools will be run this year, but we expect there to be a broad geographical spread.
26 Jan 1998 : Column: 89
Mr. Vaz:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools (a) in the East Midlands, (b) in Leicestershire and (c) nationally currently participate in the literacy hour scheme. [23564]
Mr. Byers:
Around 500 schools in 14 LEAs are in the National Literacy Project. Although none of the LEAs in the East Midlands is part of the project, we know some schools in that region are trailing the project's literacy hour.
Mr. Ronnie Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what projects have received funds from (a) the EU Social Fund and (b) the EU Cohesion Fund in the Northumberland County Council area. [23992]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
The following table shows the number of projects that have received funding through the European Social Fund since 1990. Documentation providing details of each individual project which has received funds has been placed in the Library. Northumberland is not eligible for money from the EU Cohesion Fund.
| Year | Number of successful projects |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 19 |
| 1991 | 20 |
| 1992 | 31 |
| 1993 | 67 |
| 1994 | 41 |
| 1995 | 52 |
| 1996 | 78 |
| 1997 | 43 |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |