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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
New Deal (Expenditure)
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the net expenditure effects over the next four years of the New Deal for (a) youth and long-term unemployed, (b) lone parents and (c) people with disabilities. [63504]
Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
The Government published their latest detailed estimates for the allocation of Windfall Tax receipts, which are being used to fund the Welfare to Work programme, in the pre-Budget report last month (Cm 4076--table 4.1).
The Windfall Tax raised £5.2 billion. Half of this, or £2.6 billion, has been allocated to the New Deal for 18 to 24 year olds. It has already given opportunities to 186,000 young people.
£0.5 billion will be spent on the New Deal for long term unemployed people aged over 25 which started in June. From 30 November it has been extended in 28 pilots providing more intensive interventions.
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£190 million has been allocated to the New Deal for Lone Parents which became available nationally to all lone parents on Income Support on 26 October. It was previously available in eight prototype areas from July 1997 and nationally to lone parents making new claims to Income Support from April 1998. During these two phases 87 per cent. of those attending initial interviews decided to participate in the programme.
A further £210 million has been allocated to the New Deal for Disabled People. This includes £10 million additional funding announced on 28 October.
All aspects of the New Deal programme are being comprehensively analysed. However, it is too early to make estimates of the net expenditure effects of these programmes, and it would be imprudent to make arbitrary reductions in our estimates of programme expenditure. The objective of our Welfare to Work programme is to increase the level of employment in the economy: doing so will benefit individuals in work, the wider economy, and the public finances.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the broadcasting companies with which he has had discussions over the establishment of a new education channel. [63319]
Mr. Charles Clarke
[holding answer 10 December 1998]: The Department has had discussions with a number of broadcasting companies about a range of issues associated with educational broadcasting, including the possible future role of education channels in supporting teaching and learning.
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A number of broadcasting companies have expressed interest in the provision of digital broadcasting services to support the GCSE curriculum. Following the recent technology exercise by my Department, it is expected that final decisions will be announced in the New Year.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what discussions he has had with (a) the BBC, (b) Granada and (c) United News and Media over the establishment of a new education channel. [63318]
Mr. Charles Clarke
[holding answer 10 December 1998]: Discussions take place on a regular basis with broadcasting companies, including the BBC, Granada and United News and Media, about a range of issues associated with educational broadcasting. Companies with a broadcasting or transmission licence and experience in the provision of educational broadcast material have also been invited to submit expressions of interest in the provision of specific digital broadcasting services to support the GCSE curriculum, and a competitive tendering exercise for the provision of such services is now in progress.
Dr. Vis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of students attending university in the current academic year are from ethnic minority groups, broken down by individual ethnic group. [62036]
Mr. Mudie:
The most recently available data on ethnicity of higher education students in higher education institutions in the UK are for 1997-98 and are given below:
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| Ethnic group | Full time (thousand) | Percentage of total known | Part time (thousand) | Percentage of total known |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 763.4 | 86.4 | 385.6 | 91.3 |
| Black Caribbean | 10.5 | 1.2 | 6.1 | 1.5 |
| Black African | 15.5 | 1.8 | 7.0 | 1.7 |
| Black Other | 4.6 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 |
| Indian | 33.6 | 3.8 | 6.0 | 1.4 |
| Pakistani | 17.3 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 0.6 |
| Bangladeshi | 4.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 |
| Chinese | 8.7 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.5 |
| Asian Other | 10.2 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 1.0 |
| Other | 15.0 | 1.7 | 5.2 | 1.2 |
| Total known | 883.4 | 100 | 422.4 | 100 |
| Ethnicity unknown(12) | 107.4 | -- | 120.6 | -- |
| Total HE students | 990.8 | -- | 543.0 | -- |
(11) Excluding HE students in FE institutions
(12) Including students for whom information was not provided or not collected
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University for Industry
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to allow the University for Industry to provide courses for students at levels 3 and 4; and how funding will be provided. [62549]
Mr. Mudie:
There are no plans for the University for Industry to be a direct learning provider. It will rather act as a broker of learning opportunities at all levels. These will be provided in a variety of ways, including by further and higher education institutions.
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Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what resources, in addition to the announced start up costs, will be allocated to the University for Industry in each of the years 1999 to 2002; and from which budget head within his Department these resources will come. [62602]
Mr. Mudie:
£40 million has been allocated to the University for Industry for 1999-2000. The Department plans to announce decisions on further funding in the Departmental Report which is due to be published in the spring. Any such resources will be allocated from the
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Comprehensive Spending Review total for the Department for Education and Employment. Expenditure will be from a specific University for Industry subhead.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many EU students commenced undergraduate courses at British universities in the academic year 1998-99; and what was the total projected income expected from their tuition fees. [62604]
Mr. Mudie:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 7 December 1998, Official Report, column 91, which gave our forecasts of the number of entrants from EU in 1998-99 and their expected contribution towards their tuition fees. Actual figures are not yet available.
Mr. Viggers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will extend the scope of student loans for dental students and others who are required to undertake extended training. [62935]
Mr. Mudie:
Under our new system of student support, dental and medical students in the first four years of their course will have access to the same loan, grant and fees support as all other students. In years five and beyond the Department of Health will meet their tuition fees and they will receive approximately half of their maintenance support through means tested NHS bursaries and the rest in non-means tested loans.
Students on other long courses are entitled to the same loan, grant and fees support as all other students.
Under our new system, students who have to study for more than a certain number of weeks in the academic year will be eligible, as now, for additional support for these extra weeks. This support will be in the form of an additional loan, repayable on the same terms as the basic maintenance loan.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to mitigate the effect of high debt levels on dental students incurred through the student loan scheme; and if he will make a statement. [63371]
Mr. Mudie:
Under our new system of student support, dental and medical students in the first four years of their course will have access to the same loan, grant and fees support as all other students. In years five and beyond the Department of Health will meet their tuition fees and they will receive approximately half of their maintenance support through means tested NHS bursaries and the rest in non-means tested loans from the DfEE.
Students on the new income contingent loans scheme will benefit from the fairer repayment system which links repayments directly to graduates' income. No repayments are made until their income reaches a threshold, initially set at £10,000, and thereafter they are calculated as a percentage of income above that level. This will ensure
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that dental students, and others with larger loans to repay will have affordable repayments linked directly to their earnings.
Dental and other students who entered higher education before 1998-99 and who take out five or more old style loans will repay these loans over a period of seven years compared to five years for borrowers with four or less loans. Borrowers may apply to defer repayment for a year at a time if their income does not exceed the earnings related threshold, which for 1998-99 is set at £17,784 per annum.
Mr. Green:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average level of debt incurred by dental students through the student loan scheme when they graduate. [63372]
Mr. Mudie:
This information is not collected centrally. Data taken from "Statistics of Education, Student Support for 1996-97", prepared by the Government Statistical Service and published by the Department for Education and Employment, show that borrowers entering repayment in 1997-98 owed an average of £2,180 to the Student Loans Company.
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