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Higher Education Funding Council
Mr. Rogers: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of the newly appointed members of the Higher Education Funding Council (Wales) are resident in Wales. [65070]
Mr. Hain:
Five re-appointments to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales were announced on 8 December 1998. Two of these re-appointed members, Dr. Brynley Roberts and Professor Brian Clarkson, are resident in Wales.
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Of the remainder, Sir Philip Jones, the Chairman, was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School and Dr. Kenneth Gray is a graduate of the University of Wales, Bangor.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the numbers in employment in Wales in each year since 1979. [65092]
Mr. Hain:
Labour Force Survey estimates of the numbers of people in employment in Wales in each available year since 1979 are shown in the table.
| Year | Number in employment |
|---|---|
| 1979 | 1,136 |
| 1980 | (5)-- |
| 1981 | 1,097 |
| 1982 | (5)-- |
| 1983 | 1,028 |
| 1984 | 1,073 |
| 1985 | 1,076 |
| 1986 | 1,085 |
| 1987 | 1,080 |
| 1988 | 1,135 |
| 1989 | 1,212 |
| 1990 | 1,232 |
| 1991 | 1,202 |
| 1992 | 1,192 |
| 1993 | 1,155 |
| 1994 | 1,177 |
| 1995 | 1,189 |
| 1996 | 1,195 |
| 1997 | 1,216 |
| 1998 | 1,204 |
(4) Not seasonally adjusted.
(5) Not available.
Notes:
1. Employment at spring each year.
2. Data are not available for 1980 and 1982 as the Labour Force Survey was carried out every two years between 1973 and 1983.
3. Numbers in employment include people aged 16 or over who did some paid work in the reference week (whether as employees or self employed), those who had a job they were temporarily away from, people on government employment and training programmes (from spring 1983), and unpaid family workers (from spring 1992). People in full-time education who also did some paid work in the reference week have been classified as in employment since spring 1983.
Source:
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey.
Mr. Rowlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate he has made of the number of (a) manufacturing and (b) service jobs created in Wales since May 1997; and how many jobs have been lost in the same period. [65091]
Mr. Hain: According to the Welsh Register of Manufacturing Employment (WRME) there have been an estimated 15,400 jobs gained and 17,600 jobs lost in manufacturing in Wales since June 1997. These figures relate to manufacturing plants which employed 11 or more people.
Corresponding data for service jobs are not available.
National Vocational Qualifications
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what estimate his Department has made of the
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number of 16 and 17 year olds who are (a) in employment and (b) unemployed but have not qualified to NVQ level 2. [64746]
Mr. Hain:
Estimates derived from the Labour Force Survey, for summer 1998, indicate that of the 34,000 16 and 17 year olds in employment, about 13,000 were not qualified to NVQ level 2 or equivalent. Figures on the numbers of unemployed 16 and 17 year olds not qualified to NVQ level 2 or equivalent cannot be reliably estimated.
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the financing of the Government's Investing in Young People strategy. [64747]
Mr. Hain:
Investing in Young People is a term used by the Department for Education and Employment to describe a range of education and training initiatives in England, which are designed to raise the achievements of young people to NVQ level 2 or equivalent. This term is not used within Wales, although most of the initiatives are contained within our policies which are set out in "Building Better Schools Together, Learning is for Everyone" and "Pathway to Prosperity: A New Economic Agenda for Wales".
High-quality education and training which is accessible to all is essential to building a prosperous Welsh economy. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales announced on 14 December 1998 Official Report, column 3, that he was increasing total expenditure on education and training in Wales by £844 million over the next 3 years. This increase will provide a sound basis for the National Assembly for Wales when it assumes responsibility for education and training in Wales.
Expenditure on Skill-Seekers and Skill-Build, our replacement programmes for Youth Training, is being increased by £9 million in 1999-2000, and by £12 million and £13.5 million respectively in 2000-01 and 2001-02. This will allow TECs to:
In order to help 14 and 15 year old young people who have been, or are at risk of being, excluded from education, and 16 to 17 year olds who have dropped out of education, training and employment, we are making available a further £0.4 million in 1999-2000, and £0.9 million in 2000-01 and 2001-02 to strengthen the Youth Access Initiative.
To help ensure that young people leaving school embark upon the most appropriate training or education pathway, we have asked the Welsh TECs to collaborate with the careers companies to design and operation, on a pilot basis, a Youth Gateway. The Youth Gateway comprises an extended assessment, work sampling initiative which will enable young people to make better-informed decisions about their future. £3.75 million is being made available over three years for this purpose.
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We will also be introducing in September 1999 the new statutory Right to Time Off to Study or Train programme. Targeting 16 and 17 year olds who are already in jobs but have not achieved a level 2 qualification, this programme will allow them reasonable paid time off work, to pursue a course of study or training leading to the achievement of a level 2 qualification.
Our policies for further education (FE) are detailed in our lifelong learning Green Paper--"Learning is for Everyone" (LIFE).
LIFE sets out a challenging vision of priorities for the future and in order to meet this challenge I was delighted to announce last month very significant increases in funding for further education. In 1999-2000, total expenditure on FE in Wales will for the first time exceed £200 million with more than £100 million of additional funding being ploughed into the sector over the next three years. This will support additional student enrolments of 28,000 by academic year 2001-2002, on top of the current 202,000 enrolments. Also, FE Access Funds will increase from £0.5 million per annum to a total of £13 million over the next three years, to support widening access and improved retention of students.
These new and enhanced programmes demonstrate the commitment of the Government to investing in the young people of Wales.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will list the counties that have independent welfare rights organisations; [64652]
(3) if he will estimate the amount of public funds spent per 1,000 of population on welfare rights services for each local authority in Wales. [64656]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to announce the outcome of the review of the adequacy of preventive controls over water pollution from oil and petrol storage installations in Wales. [64933]
Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
The Groundwater Regulations 1998 (SI 1998, No. 2746), which I signed in November 1998, will give the Environment Agency additional new powers to help it prevent leaks and spillages from storage facilities, including from underground fuel storage in retail petrol stations. The Government are considering whether further controls to prevent water pollution from oil and petrol storage installations are needed and we expect to make an announcement about our conclusions later this year.
Mr. Llew Smith:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assistance he plans to provide to homeless people in Wales over winter. [64804]
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Mr. Jon Owen Jones:
Last month, local authorities, working with the voluntary sector, were invited to submit bids for grants to provide further assistance to rough sleepers over the winter. Fourteen applications have been received and I will write to my hon. Friend shortly with details of successful bids and place a copy in the Library. During the current year, the Welsh Office has also allocated £350,000 for rough sleeping projects and £315,000 towards the running costs of 3 organisations concerned with preventing and alleviating homelessness.
maintain the current level of places for Modern Apprenticeships, National Traineeships and Skill-Build, a programme targeted at those young people who are not able to follow training to level 2;
increase the basic level of training allowance to £40 per week;
improve the quality of provision through the payment of higher unit prices to training providers.
(2) if he will list the counties in Wales that operate welfare rights units; [64654]
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