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A-levels and Vocational Courses
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Government's pilot schemes to (a) broaden A-levels and (b) upgrade vocational courses; and what plans he has to extend the pilot schemes nationwide. [74807]
Mr. Mudie: We expect to make an announcement shortly on the outcome of the consultation on taking forward the Government's commitment to support broader A levels and upgraded vocational qualifications, underpinned by rigorous standards and key skills. We have already made clear that the revised AS, A level and Advanced GNVQ--which are being developed in the light of a number of pilot schemes--will be introduced nationally for teaching from September 2000.
GCSE Examinations (Entry Fee)
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to allow individual schools to charge parents entry fees for GCSE examinations where students fail to attend for the examination. [74701]
Mr. Mudie: Under Section 453 of the Education Act 1996, maintained schools are already able to recover GCSE examination entry fees from parents where a student fails without good reason to attend an examination.
Further Education Lecturers
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to resolve the dispute between further education lecturers who continued to retain silver book conditions of service in further education colleges after incorporation in 1993 and their employers. [74698]
Mr. Mudie: It is for individual colleges to decide the conditions of service and what pay increases they will offer their staff, within the resources available to each college and within the framework of the Government's policy on public sector pay. Ministers, however, have consistently emphasised the importance of partnership between employers and staff in delivering the vital contribution of Further Education to our lifelong learning vision. We have been encouraging the national representative bodies to collaborate in the interests of that agenda, and we warmly welcome the announcement by National Association for Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) and the Association of Colleges (AoC) of the end of their dispute.
European Funding
Mr. Harvey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which countries have sent
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him copies of their EU Objective 3 Social Fund application forms; and if he will place translations of them in the Library. [74704]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
I have so far received copies of the current Objective 3 application forms from Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Sweden and Germany. These have already been placed in the Library and I will ensure translations in English are available there.
Mr. Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of all those aged from 18 to 64 years, who are in employment or actively seeking employment, are qualified to NVQ (a) level 3 and (b) level 4 in (i) the United Kingdom and (ii) England; and what the figures were in each year from 1993. [75069]
Mr. Mudie
[holding answer 5 March 1999]: The information requested is contained in the following table.
| NVQ level 3 or equivalent | NVQ level 4 or equivalent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | UK | England | UK | England |
| 1993 | (26)38.8 | 38.2 | (26)21.8 | 21.7 |
| 1994 | (26)40.2 | 39.6 | (26)22.7 | 22.6 |
| 1995 | 40.8 | 40.4 | 23.6 | 23.5 |
| 1996 | 41.9 | 41.6 | 23.8 | 23.9 |
| 1997 | 43.3 | 43.0 | 24.5 | 24.4 |
| 1998 | 45.4 | 45.0 | 26.2 | 26.0 |
(25) Adults consist of males aged 18-64 and females aged 18-59.
(26) Figures are for Great Britain only.
Source:
Labour Force Survey, Autumn quarters
All-age Special Schools
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the (a) benefits and (b) disadvantages of all-age special schools; and if he will make a statement. [75490]
Mr. Charles Clarke: When deciding statutory proposals to alter or establish special schools, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, takes account of professional advice from Ofsted, which will address issues such as the number and age range of the proposed pupil population and the suitability of provision to meet their special educational needs.
Teachers (Pension Scheme)
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to receive the Working Group's report on the long-term examination of the teachers' pension scheme. [75073]
Mr. Charles Clarke: I have received the Working Group's report and am currently considering its findings and recommendations.
Foreign Language Teaching
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what plans he has to end the statutory requirement for 14 to 16-year-old pupils to be taught a foreign language; [75410]
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Ms Estelle Morris:
We have no plans to end the statutory requirement for 14 to 16-year-olds to be taught a modern foreign language. We recognise the importance of foreign language learning and are considering ways of strengthening its teaching in schools.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) for what reasons his press notice LPN 41/99 is not available on the departmental internet; [75285]
(3) what representations he has received from Cumbria county council since the issue of his press release on 24 February; [75287]
(4) what powers he has to compel Cumbria county council to spend on education the moneys he has allocated to it; [75288]
(5) what steps he will take (a) to monitor and (b) to enforce compliance with his request to Cumbria county council to spend their full standard spending assessment on education. [75289]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The central Government grant that supports Standard Spending provision is unhypothecated. Nevertheless, we have examined local authority budget proposals in the public domain, for evidence that they have reflected the increased funding in their education budgets. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Leader of Cumbria county council in February to urge them to consider their plans and use all of the increase to support education, and a press notice was drafted to that effect. I am pleased to say that, since then, we have been informed by the county council that they do intend to reflect their full education SSA increase of £9.4 million (5.0 per cent.) in their 1999-2000 education budget.
(2) if he will make a statement on the requirement for compulsory foreign language study as part of the national curriculum. [75411]
(2) for what reason departmental press officers telephoned media outlets in Cumbria asking them not to use the press release of 24 February which they had just issued; [75286]
Polling Organisations
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will establish an appropriate body, with a remit equivalent to the Advisory Committee on Advertising, to check the competence and propriety of polling organisations bidding for Government work. [75209]
Mr. Kilfoyle:
No. Decisions on awarding Government contracts to polling organisations are subject to the same strict requirements of value for money as any other category of Government procurement. In particular, the process of evaluating tenders includes an assessment of the competence of the tenderers to deliver the work required.
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Mediation
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what funding he plans to make available for the Surrey Mediation Forum. [74682]
Mr. Hoon: None. It has not been the Government's policy to provide core funding to individual or local mediation organisations, although some support is provided in family mediation to national representative organisations for the development of the family mediation function.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to assist the development of a national mediation council. [74683]
Mr. Hoon: None, although some support has been provided in family mediation to national representative organisations for the development of the family mediation function.
Mrs. Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to ensure common standards of practice between the private and legally aided mediation sectors. [74681]
Mr. Hoon: The Government are not aware that there are distinct private and legally aided mediation sectors. Individual family mediators, however, undertake both private and publicly funded work. The standards of practice required for publicly funded family mediation work are set out in the contracts individual family mediators have with the Legal Aid Board.
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