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New Deal (Vietnamese and Chinese Nationals)

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many individuals of (a) Vietnamese nationality and (b) Chinese nationality have (i) participated in the New Deal and (ii) found jobs through the New Deal. [71094]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Responsibility for the subject of this 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. David Maclean, dated 23 February 1999:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your question about the numbers of people of Vietnamese and Chinese nationality who are participating and have found jobs through New Deal. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

While details of an individual's nationality are not held, people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance are invited to indicate their ethnic origin.

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In the period to the end of November 1998, 374 clients who declared their ethnic origin as Chinese entered the New Deal for 18-24 year olds. In the same period, 59 of these clients left the Gateway for unsubsidised jobs and a further 11 for subsidised jobs. There may also be some people of Chinese origin among those who chose not to declare their ethnic origin.

Vietnamese claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance are not identified as a separate ethnic group. It is not therefore possible to produce figures for New Deal participants and job starts for this group.

Asylum Seekers (Children)

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children of asylum seekers are currently attending school in the United Kingdom; and if he will estimate the cost of their attendance. [71092]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Local Education Authorities are funded to provide education for school-aged children of asylum seekers on the school roll, in the same way as they are for all other children on roll. We estimate that there are about 45,000 children of asylum seekers currently receiving education in the United Kingdom at a cost of around £97 million in the current financial year.

New Deal (Gateway)

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment for what reasons individuals may stay on the Gateway to the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds for longer than four months. [71133]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Responsibility for the subject of this 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. David Maclean, dated 17 February 1999:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your question about the reasons why the length of the Gateway period for those participating in New Deal for 18-24 year olds may be extended beyond four months. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

There are four main categories of young people whose stay on the Gateway may properly extend beyond the normal four month maximum. The first category covers young people who are not required to go on to an option at the end of four months because they are clearly intending to cease claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the very near future. Examples, include young people who are due to start full time work; emigrate; or leave Jobseeker's Allowance to claim maternity allowance. The second category covers situations where entry to a New Deal option is, by agreement with a Personal Adviser, delayed for a short period where there is good reason. Examples include circumstances where a young person has suffered a bereavement; suffers a short-term illness; or where their planned provision is unexpectedly not available.

The third category covers young people who refuse to enter a New Deal option. In these circumstances their case will normally be referred to an adjudication officer for a decision on the individual's benefit entitlement during which time the young person is regarded as still being on the Gateway. The fourth category covers returners to the Gateway. If a young person leaves the Gateway and subsequently returns within 13 weeks, they will re-enter the Gateway at the point which they left.

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Mr. Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the

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impact on his Department's policies of the goods and services provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to be implemented in October 1999. [71277]

Ms Hodge: We are acting to ensure that the Department's policies meet the needs of disabled people and that we comply with our legal requirements. The Department already takes positive steps to make it easier for disabled people to make use of its services. We shall continue to do so, not only by complying fully with new duties in the Disability Discrimination Act but by aiming to exceed them where appropriate.

The Department issued internal guidance recently on mainstreaming which ensures that all new and existing policies and programmes are assessed for any adverse impact not only on disabled people, but on any minority or disadvantaged group. That includes the need to ensure that our policies and their outcomes comply with the law. Where necessary we shall act to remove or reduce the impact on these groups. This complements the guidance "Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment" which the Cabinet Office issued to all Government Departments in November 1998, and which was signed jointly by the Minister for Women, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, and the Home Secretary.

The Departmental Board monitors the Department's performance and will publish information on the progress being made in this area, as will other Government Departments.

Disabled People

Mr. Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what amounts in his Department's budget for 1998-99 can be attributed to spending on disabled people; and what proportion this represents of total departmental spending. [71289]

Mr. Mudie: Approximately £290 million of this Department's budget for 1998-99 can be attributed directly to spending on disabled people. This represents 1.9 per cent. of the Department's total budget for 1998-99.

In addition, disabled people are able to benefit from the Department's mainstream expenditure on education, employment and training, but it is not possible to identify separately the amount of this.

Education Action Zones

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many of the Education Action Zones have applied to disapply (a) the national curriculum and (b) national terms and conditions for teachers. [68935]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 2 February 1999]: 11 schools in EAZs have informed QCA that they have disapplied the National Curriculum under Section 363 of the Education Act 1996 to provide wider opportunities for work-related learning at Key Stage 4 from September 1998. As regulations only came into force in September 1998, it is likely that more schools will take advantage of this provision during the remainder of this academic year and next academic year.

A further two schools are currently considering making an application under Section 362 from September 1999 to disapply aspects of the National Curriculum for the purposes of curricular experimentation and development.

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There have been no applications to disapply the national terms and conditions for teachers.

Planning Assessments

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many staff in his Department are responsible for assessing local education authorities' (a) early years development plans, (b) asset management plans and (c) education development plans; and how much time is given on average to the assessment of each such plan. [70118]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 9 February 1999]: We estimate that the amount of staff time expected to be spent on assessing local education authority plans (expressed as full time equivalent) is as set out in the following table.

Type of plan	Average staff time per plan (hours)	Staff numbers (as FTE)
Early years development plans	11	1.10
Asset management plans	(18)--	(18)--
Education development plans	16	1.59

(18) Detailed assessment methods for asset management plans have not yet been determined.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr. Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will describe the procedure followed by the Employment Service for tracking claimants of jobseeker's allowance who are (a) unemployed for more than two years (i) in the 18 to 24 age group and (ii) aged over 25 years and (b) lone parents. [70740]

Mr. Andrew Smith: Responsibility for the subject of this 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. Paul Keetch, dated 17 February 1999:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your question about the procedure for tracking claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.

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The procedure for monitoring claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance starts when they make their first claim. The jobseeker is seen by an adviser for a New Jobseeker Interview and is subsequently seen fortnightly until they cease claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. The progress in finding work for jobseekers who remain unemployed is reviewed with them after 13 weeks, after six months and every six months thereafter. For those young people aged between 18 and 24 the six month review triggers their entry on to the New Deal.

I should explain that Lone Parents do not normally claim Jobseeker's Allowance, since they are normally entitled to Income Support. New Deal for Lone Parents is a voluntary programme and participants continue to claim Income Support whilst participating on it. The only Lone Parents who claim jobseeker's Allowance are therefore those who voluntarily join the New Deal for 18-24 year olds or for those aged over 25, and those who are willing to meet the Jobseeker's Allowance benefit conditions by making themselves available for and actively seeking work.

All claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance are recorded by the Employment Service on its Labour Market Computer System. This is used to record their progress in line with the structure of fortnightly attendance and regular reviews. In addition, jobseekers who are on New Deal are tracked by their Personal Adviser throughout their time on the programme.

I hope this is helpful.

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