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History Teaching (Ethnic Minority Backgrounds)
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement about the teaching in schools of the history of the backgrounds of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom. [77644]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The National Curriculum sets the framework for teaching in schools, within which individual schools and teachers determine detailed delivery. National Curriculum history includes a number of study units covering British, European and world history. This presents a good deal of scope for schools to teach aspects of history relevant to the backgrounds of ethnic minority communities in the UK.
Free School Meals
Mr. Fearn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate his Department has made
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of the number of schoolchildren who would be eligible for free school meals, but whose parents provide packed lunches instead. [77665]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
These figures are not collected centrally.
Mr. Coleman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many lone parents in the unit of delivery covering Hammersmith and Fulham (a) are currently in receipt of benefit, (b) have been requested to attend interviews with respect to the New Deal, (c) have undergone such interviews and (d) have secured employment as a consequence. [77840]
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 Richard Foster to Mr. Iain Coleman, dated 23 March 1999:
Mr. Grieve:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what (a) discussions he has had and (b) proposals his Department has put forward at Council of Ministers' meetings in respect of EU fraud; and if he will make a statement. [77776]
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 19 March 1999]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary, 19 March 1999, Official Report, columns 858-59.
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Mr. Burns:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the number of vacancies notified to the Chelmsford Jobcentre in each of the last six months for which figures are available. [77813]
Mr. Andrew Smith
[holding answer 22 March 1999]: 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.
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked Leigh Lewis to reply to your question on lone parents in the unit of delivery covering Hammersmith and Fulham. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mr. Lewis as Chief Executive of the Agency. I am replying in his absence.
The New Deal for Lone Parents is targeted at those parents on Income Support whose children are of school age. It is open also to those with younger children who put themselves forward. The number of lone parents in receipt of Income Support for Hammersmith and Fulham stood at 4,000 in August 1998. This information is based on the Local Authority boundaries.
I am unable to provide the information you sought on the number of lone parents requested to attend interviews for the New Deal. This is because information on the volume of letters issued is currently only available nationally. I should point out that the contact letter sent to lone parents under the New Deal for Lone Parents is not a request for them to attend an interview. Participation is voluntary and lone parents may choose to get in touch with a New Deal Personal Adviser when it suits their circumstances. The letter aims to make lone parents aware of the New Deal and to encourage them to contact an adviser if they want support in returning to work.
Unfortunately, New Deal for Lone Parents figures are not formally available at this stage from Employment Service Districts. I, therefore, asked for a special exercise to be carried out to produce these figures. In February the number of lone parents that had initial interviews in Hammersmith and Fulham Jobcentres was 177. The number of lone parents who have secured employment in that period as a result of New Deal for Lone Parents was 46.
I hope this is helpful.
| Vacancies | |
|---|---|
| September 1998 | 791 |
| October 1998 | 1,120 |
| November 1998 | 1,005 |
| December 1998 | 531 |
| January 1999 | 338 |
| February 1999 | 581 |
I hope this is helpful.
New Deal
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans the Government have to extend the New Deal for the long- term unemployed to those unemployed for less than two years. [77632]
Mr. Andrew Smith [holding answer 22 March 1999]: Unemployed people aged 25 or more who face particular disadvantages in the labour market can already gain early access to the New Deal, after 12 months of unemployment. We are also running 28 New Deal pilot schemes for this age group, including one in Coventry, which will test the effectiveness of intervening more generally after 12 and 18 months of unemployment. These will be very carefully evaluated and we will be looking closely at what lessons can be drawn for the future.
A number of measures available under the New Deal, such as work based learning for adults, are also available to people unemployed for less than two years.
Early-years Education
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) of 18 March 1999, Official Report, column 1257, if he will publish a breakdown of the £8 billion of expenditure on pre-schools and early years education. [78248]
Ms Hodge:
The estimate of some £8 billion invested in early education and childcare in England in 1998-99 and over the next three years takes into account Sure Start; local education authority expenditure on provision for under 5s; DfEE grant for nursery education provision;
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DfEE childcare programmes; the childcare tax credit; local authority expenditure on the regulation and inspection of day care facilities; New Opportunities Fund expenditure on out of school childcare and expenditure by FE colleges on childcare training. Because of the different funding streams involved and the number of detailed decisions still to be taken by a variety of different agencies, it is not possible to give detailed figures at this stage.
Married Couples Allowance
Mr. Maclean: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers were affected by the restriction of the married couples allowance to 10 per cent. announced in the 1998 Budget; and what is the average cost per taxpayer. [70655]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 15 February 1999]: In his Budget on 9 March 1999, Official Report, columns 173-90, the Chancellor announced the continuing phasing out of the married couples allowance and its replacement by the new Children's Tax Credit to support families when they need it most, when they are bringing up their children. This will make 4½ million families better off.
Social Fund
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the relationship between the access to Social Fund grants and loans made available to recipients of family credit and that available to recipients of the working families tax credit. [71505]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 16 February 1999]: Recipients of Family Credit have access to Social Fund Maternity and Funeral Payments. However, the increased generosity of the Working Families Tax Credit will mean that support provided through the tax credit could go considerably further up the income distribution than with Family Credit. The Government are therefore considering whether, in the future, it will still be appropriate to passport all WFTC claimants onto these additional benefits.
Housing Benefit
Ms Kelly: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in receipt of housing benefit who will become eligible for the working families tax credit after 1 April in (i) Bolton, (ii) the North West and (iii) England. [75633]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated number of families in England in receipt of both Housing Benefit and Working Families Tax Credit is 190,000 in 1999-2000. No reliable estimates are available for numbers in either Bolton or the North-West.
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