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Career Development Loans
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to (a) review and (b) evaluate the impact of the Career Development Loan Scheme on educational training. [93628]
Mr. Mudie: The effectiveness of the Career Development Loan (CDL) Scheme is subject to an annual review against targets and objectives. the Department has also started a fundamental review of the application processes and associated literature in partnership with the participating High Street banks.
In addition, there is a rolling programme of evaluation undertaken by external specialists. The most recent evaluations have been:
Mr. Hawkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the increase in the (a) staff and (b) expenditure of the Standards and Effectiveness Unit since its inception; and what assessment he has made of the impact of this increase on (i) the bureaucratic burdens on schools and (ii) the number of circulars issued by his Department. [93312]
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Ms Estelle Morris:
At its inception in May 1997 the number of staff in the Unit was 44, this rose to 107 in May 1998 and at the end of June 1999 stood at 152. The budget for the Unit in 1997-98 was £2.4 million; for 1998-99, £4.8 million; and for 1999-2000 it is £5.9 million. The numbers of staff in the Unit must be viewed against the numbers of staff and budget for the Department as a whole, both of which have remained stable over the last two years. The increase of staff in the Unit, therefore, reflects a refocusing of resources towards our top priority of raising standards in schools.
The increased resources devoted to the Standards and Effectiveness Unit have led to a clearer focus on raising standards in schools, not to increased bureaucracy. The work of the Unit has not led to any significant increase in the number of circulars issued by the Department over the last three years. We draw a clear distinction between unnecessary bureaucratic activity, which hinders teachers' efforts to raise standards, and those activities that are integral to achieving higher standards. We have provided training and support materials as part of the strategies to improve standards in key areas such as literacy and numeracy and this has been welcomed by teachers.
Following a systematic review of bureaucracy, the Department has initiated firm action to reduce the burden on schools.
Mr. Derek Twigg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the Employment Service's Annual Report and Accounts for 1998-99 will be laid before Parliament. [93823]
Mr. Blunkett:
I have today laid before the House the Employment Service's Annual Report and Accounts for 1998-99 which gives full details of the Agency's performance and expenditure for that year.
The Annual Report notes the very significant achievements of the Employment Service in 1998-99. In particular, the Employment Service successfully launched the New Deals for 18-24-year-olds, for those aged 25 and over and for Lone Parents through ground-breaking local partnerships of private, voluntary and public sector organisations.
At the same time, the Report notes that during 1998-99 the Employment Service:
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I am particularly pleased that the Employment Service is changing rapidly. People are noticing the difference. I am particularly pleased that standards of customer service in Jobcentres exceeded the target set and reached their highest recorded level ever.
The Agency has also continued to play a key role in implementing our Modernising Government agenda including the introduction, on a pilot basis, of its new telephone job finding service, Employment Service Direct; the opening of its Peterlee Call Centre to improve services to employers throughout the Northern Region; and the introduction of Webvacs, its first internet jobs database.
As the Chief Executive points out in his Report, none of this would have been possible without the quite remarkable effort and commitment of people throughout the Employment Service. I, too, am very grateful to them and wish them every success in 1999-2000.
Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people who responded to the Survey of New Deal Leavers with Unknown Destinations stated that they had left for (a) unsubsidised work, (b) incapacity benefit, (c) income support and (d) another destination; and if he will list the other destinations. [93466]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
A recently published survey of the destination of New Deal leavers with unknown destinations established that 43 per cent had left for paid employment. The other destinations are listed here:
Jackie Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he has established a baseline for policy appraisal against which to measure progress on equal treatment. [93457]
Ms Hodge:
As part of the Government's commitment to ensuring that their policies are relevant to the lives that people live today, my Department is working closely with the Women's Unit and the Home Office to develop good practices for ensuring that our policies meet the changing needs of all members of society.
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"Policy Appraisal for Equal Treatment guidelines", published by the Home Office, Women's Unit, and DfEE in November, has been circulated to all Departments to ensure that the effects of any policy changes on all sections of the population are considered at the earliest stage of policy development. My Department has underpinned the guidelines with more specific advice to all policy makers on how to consider the needs and requirements of different groups.
Mr. Bercow:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list those International Labour Organisation conventions which the United Kingdom has stated it does not plan to ratify. [92826]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
We have made no such statement. When I attended the ILO Conference on 8 June I delivered the instrument of ratification for ILO Convention 111 on discrimination in employment to the ILO's Director General. We are currently considering ratification of both Convention 138 on the minimum age for employment and the new ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. I will make an announcement on these Conventions shortly.
Mr. Cohen:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will commission a study of the Norwegian experience in respect of the non-employment of smokers in asbestos-related work; and if he will make a statement. [93027]
In 1997, research into the impact the loans had on individuals and their ability to undertake vocational training or continue in education had the loan not been available;
The first two reports are available from the DfEE Publications Unit and copies have been placed in the Library. The third will also be available in due course.
In 1998, research into the views of training providers, both those who actively promote CDLs and those who have not had any trainees use the scheme;
In 1999, research into the reasons why people do not take up a loan after showing initial interest and asking for the application pack.
handled 2.5 million job vacancies;
Although the Employment Service did not succeed in meeting its main targets for the number of unemployed people placed into jobs, its performance needs to be seen against the background of further falls in unemployment over the year with numbers of long-term unemployed people at their lowest level for 20 years, a continuing emphasis on ensuring that all job placings were properly and accurately recorded and validated and the successful delivery of a very substantial agenda of other major developments, including New Deal implementation, by and within the Agency.
placed directly into work over 1.2 million unemployed people including some 180,000 people who had been unemployed for more than six months and almost 100,000 people with disabilities;
helped nearly a quarter of a million young people through the New Deal for 18-24-year-olds and directly placed 70,000 of them into jobs.
gone abroad
claimed other benefit
claimant deceased
Full-Time education (other than as a New Deal Option)
approved training
starting non-New Deal Government Supported Training
in prison/custody
attending court
on the witness protection programme
partner working
partner claiming
signed off voluntarily due to a fraud investigation
client signed off when a JSA disallowance applied
the client is over the maximum savings limit
on JSA but not on New Deal.
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