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PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL
Select Committee Reports
Mr. Maclean: To ask the President of the Council if (a) she, (b) civil servants in her Department or (c) special advisers in her Department have (i) had sight of drafts of select committee reports, in whole or in part, or (ii) been informed of conclusions of select committee reports prior to their publication by the select committees. [75872]
Mrs. Beckett: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on 1 March 1999, Official Report, column 531. There have been no instances of members of departmental select committees giving me or the Parliamentary Secretary drafts of select committee reports, or of parts of reports including their conclusions, before publication. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, have there been any occasions on which members of departmental select committees have given such material to civil servants or special advisers in my Department. This excludes embargoed copies of reports issued under House of Commons Standing Orders.
However, as chair of the Modernisation Committee, I am responsible for drawing up its draft reports and these are also seen by my immediate advisers, that is, members of my private office and one or two officials who advise me on parliamentary matters and one of my special advisers. As a member of the House of Commons Commission, I also see some of the papers of the Domestic Committees; these are also seen by my immediate advisers.
As chair of the Cabinet Committee on future legislation, I have also been consulted about the possibility of legislation to enact the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege.
10 Mar 1999 : Column: 214
Miss McIntosh:
To ask the President of the Council when she will publish the Government's recent quarterly report on millennium computer compliance; and if she will arrange to meet transport providers to ensure that insurance cover is available for travel on 1 January 2000. [75679]
Mrs. Beckett:
I will be announcing the results of the latest quarterly review shortly.
Responsibility for the transport and insurance industries rests with the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions and Treasury respectively. I therefore have no plans to meet transport providers, nor have such providers sought a meeting.
Mr. Kidney:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what support (a) TECs and (b) his Department give to education business partnerships; [75616]
Mr. Blunkett:
My Department supports a range of programmes which promote education business links--principally, work experience for pupils mentoring programmes and teacher placements to industry. Support for these programmes in the year ahead, made available through Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs), will be £13.5 million. My Department also provides £145,000 support per year to the National Education Business Partnership Network.
The support that we make available to Education Business Partnerships through TECs has been an important element in the TEC Review which has been under way. I am today announcing some changes to the operation of TECs, arising from the first phase of the TEC Review. These will strengthen partnership and accountability, improve the quality of work-based training and streamline contracting arrangements.
In the light of the TEC Review, the responses we have received to the "Learning Age" Green Paper, the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) Quinquennial Review report--which has been published today and copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses--and the setting-up of the new local learning partnerships, I propose now to undertake a wider assessment of how we can best meet the learning and skills challenge. We shall also take into account the forthcoming Moser Report on basic skills, the University for Industry Corporate Plan, the further report of the Skills Task Force and the Social Exclusion Unit report on disaffected 16 to 18-year-olds.
Drawing on the TEC Review, we will want to examine the local and national arrangements relating to the delivery of lifelong learning, work-force development and skills, excluding higher education. This will include consideration of new opportunities for business involvement in meeting the skills challenge.
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I have today written inviting all those concerned with this key part of the learning and skills agenda to contribute to this process, following which I intend to publish specific proposals in the summer. I will, of course, work closely with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry--as he takes forward his proposal to establish the new Small Business Service--and the Deputy Prime Minister on the role of Regional Development Agencies.
Our aim is to ensure that we have the skills required for the new century in which knowledge, application and our capacity to learn will be crucial both to individual employability and economic success. As we set out in the "Learning Age" Green Paper, our goals are to increase the number of people engaged in learning; promote excellence and quality in its delivery; ensure coherent provision of further education and work-based training; provide support for all young people in making the transition from school to further learning or employment; involve employers in the promotion of lifelong learning; ensure that provision best meets the economy's needs for skills, creativity and innovation; make the most effective use of resources; and meet our National Learning Targets.
Mr. Sawford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will review the current statutory three-mile requirement for the provision of free school transport. [74820]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The School Travel Advisory Group, formed with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Department of Health and other interested parties, together with officials in my Department, is already considering the legislation governing home-to-school transport, including the three- mile walking distance, and will offer advice in due course.
Mr. Steinberg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what in the last five years for which information is available was the expenditure per pupil in full-time education in the (a) whole education budget, (b) general schools budget, (c) potential budget and (d) aggregate schools budget. [74977]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The following table gives, for schools in England for the financial years 1994-95 to 1998-99 inclusive, the averages of the (a) General Schools Budget, (b) Potential Schools Budget and (c) Aggregated Schools Budget, per pupil. Information on the whole education budget, per pupil, is not held centrally.
(2) what plans he has for education business partnerships to be supported in the future by (a) TECs and (b) his Department. [75617]
| £ | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASB | PSB | GSB | |
| 1998-99 | 1,893 | 2,090 | 2,563 |
| 1997-98 | 1,839 | 2,028 | 2,471 |
| 1996-97 | 1,814 | 2,005 | 2,453 |
| 1995-96 | 1,752 | 1,948 | 2,398 |
| 1994-95 | 1,730 | 1,990 | 2,399 |
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IT Initiatives
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much money has been made available for information technology initiatives since May 1997 for (a) initial teacher training and (b) schools. [75021]
Mr. Charles Clarke: In respect of initial teacher training (ITT), the Teacher Training Agency has allocated just over £6 million for measures to improve the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) across the curriculum. This includes £1 million to support implementation of Qualified Teacher Status standards and the ITT National Curriculum for primary English and mathematics. During this period, support for £666 million of ICT-related initiatives in schools in England has been announced as part of a £1 billion programme to implement the National Grid for Learning.
Higher Education (Durham)
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the amount of funding per student in higher education in Durham in the last five years. [74976]
Mr. Mudie: The following tables show, for each of the last five years, public funding per student at the University of Durham from recurrent grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and tuition fees paid from public funds.
| Academic year | Public funds (1) (£ million) | Students (2) (Thousand) | Funding per student (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 40.7 | 7.9 | 5,150 |
| 1995-96 | 42.4 | 8.0 | 5,300 |
| 1996-97 | 44.0 | 8.4 | 5,240 |
(1) HESA 'Resources of Higher Education Institutions', published in June 1996, June 1997 and May 1998
(2) HESA 'Students in Higher Education Institution', published May 1996, July 1997 and June 1998
| Academic year | Public funds (3) (£ million) | Students (4) (Thousand) | Funding per student (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | 42.4 | 7.9 | 5,370 |
| 1998-99 | 45.1 | 8.1 | 5,570 |
(3) HEFCE recurrent funding circulars in February 1997 and March 1998
(4) Student numbers are those within the University's maximum aggregate student number (MaSN)--predominantly full-time undergraduate students
10 Mar 1999 : Column: 217
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many mature students entered higher education in Durham in each year since 1995. [74978]
Mr. Mudie: The information is given in the following table.
| Year | Mature entrants (6) |
|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 1,860 |
| 1996-97 | 1,310 |
| 1997-98 | 1,470 |
(5) Mature students are defined as postgraduates aged 25 and over and undergraduates aged 21 and over.
(6) The numbers are census counts of enrolments, as at 1 December, onto the first year of both full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate HE courses.
Note:
Provisional higher education entrant figures for 1998-99 will be available in April 1999
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