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New Deal (North-east)

Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 18 to 24 year olds have started New Deal in (a) the area covered by the Government Office for the North East and (b) Tynemouth broken down by (i) employer, (ii) full time education, (iii) the voluntary sector (iv) the environment task force and (v) other. [96859]

Ms Jowell: In the period ending August 1999, the table shows the number of young people who have jointed New Deal and the number who have gone on to join an option for (a) Employment Service Northern region, and (b) Tynemouth constituency.

	Northern region	Tynemouth
Starts to New Deal	25,800	640
Starts to Employer option	1,940	28
Starts to FTET	6,020	160
Starts to VS	1,580	36
Starts to ETF	1,710	14
Leavers from Gateway to unsubsidisedjobs	4,380	136

Source:

New Deal Evaluation Database

GCSE Achievement

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which local education authorities have asked for a variation of the national target

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for GCSE achievement in 2002; what variations have been agreed; and what reasons for variation have been accepted in each case. [95897]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 28 October 1999]: The national targets for GCSE achievement in 2002 cover all pupils in England. It is not open to local education authorities to seek to vary the national targets.

Labour and Social Affairs Council

Mr. Rammell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the outcome of the Labour and Social Affairs Council held in Luxembourg on 22 October; and if he will make a statement. [96775]

Ms Jowell: I represented the UK at this meeting of the Council.

The Council was dominated by discussion of the employment package. Discussion will continue during November, with a final version of the package due for submission to the Helsinki European Council on 11-12 December.

The Council welcomed the Commission's proposals for amendments to the Employment Guidelines for 2000. On Commission proposals for Council recommendations on the implementation of member states' employment policies, the UK led a discussion which sought to ensure support for the principle of recommendations. The majority of the Council members endorsed this approach.

The Council heard a progress report from the Presidency on a draft Council decision to establish the Employment Committee. The Presidency also reported on the negotiations for a Community programme to promote the social integration of refugees.

The Council agreed conclusions welcoming a new action programme to promote equality between men and women and conclusions noting a Presidency report on member states' implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

The Commission Communication on a strategy for modernising social protection was warmly welcomed by most member states.

Mature Students

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate the number of mature students at universities and other higher education establishments for the years (a) 1989, (b) 1994 and (c) 1999; and if he will make a statement. [97370]

Mr. Wicks: Information for 1999-2000 is not yet available. The most recent data are shown in the table.

Mature(7) Home Domiciled Higher Education Students(8) in Great Britain
	1989-90	1994-95	1998-99
Full-time	234,755	441,011	430,978
Part-time	338,823	505,619	630,603
Total	573,583	946,630	1,061,581

(7) Postgraduates aged 25 or over, and undergraduates aged 21 or over.

(8) Higher education and further education establishments including the Open University.

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Educational Maintenance Allowance Pilots

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the total amount top-sliced from the SSA discretionary awards budget to pay for the Educational Maintenance Allowance Pilots in 1999-2000. [97548]

Mr. Wicks: None. The Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Pilots have been funded entirely from new money provided for this purpose. The transfer from local education authority discretionary awards is being used to contribute to the costs of the access funds and specific help for residential students and for childcare. These new arrangements will mean more spending on students than would have been the case had the discretionary awards scheme continued.

EMAs have the potential to make a real difference to young people's life chances. Early indications are that they are having a positive impact in the pilot areas.

Bolton Institute of Higher Education

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to make a decision concerning the application of Bolton Institute of Higher Education to become a university. [97362]

Mr. Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to be able to announce a decision before the end of the year.

"Voices" Magazine

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many copies of "Voices" magazine have been published; how many have been distributed and to whom; and what was the cost of publishing this magazine. [97311]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 5 November 1999]: 20,000 copies of the "Voices" magazine were published. The publishing and production costs were £59,976.80. The cost of the publication was shared in part with other Government Departments.

Every copy of "Voices" has been distributed. Copies were sent to approximately 2,000 women who attended the Listening to women roadshows, as promised to them, the Women's National Commission, all GP's surgeries and Primary Health Care Directors and NHS and Local Authority Chief Executives, Citizens Advice Bureaux, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality, media contacts and individual requests from members of the public, universities, local authority services etc. Copies were sent to the Parliamentary Library, Cabinet Ministers, women MPs and Peers, The Welsh Assembly, The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Women's Forum, The Northern Ireland Executive, Women MEPs, three EU Commissioners, Civil Service Departments and appropriate branch heads. There is a significant demand for "Voices" from a wide range of sources, so a re-print of 10,000 copies has been ordered to meet these requests. This will cost a further £17,439. Copies of "Voices" will be distributed to all public libraries shortly. Copies have been sent to the UN, the European Commission and overseas contacts.

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The Key points, Government actions and contact numbers in "Voices" were also published in a summary leaflet. Approximately 250,000 leaflets were printed at a cost of £12,927 and these are being distributed through retail outlets (Bhs and Mothercare) and GP surgeries to ensure we reached as many women as possible.

Student Identification Numbers

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress has been made in developing a unique student identification number. [97488]

Mr. Wicks: The National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, chaired by Lord Dearing, recommended in July 1997 that works be undertaken over the medium term on the creation of a framework for data about lifelong learning, using a "unique student record number".

Since then a number of important developments have taken place--notably the introduction this term of a national system of "unique pupil numbers" to facilitate the statistical tracking of pupils through the school system. The potential for extending the use of the unique pupil number (or some alternative) beyond school needs to be reviewed, not only in relation to the Dearing recommendation, but also in the light of developments in post 16 education and training policy as a whole.

The contribution of a unique student record number to the creation of a framework of data on lifelong learning (the real aim of the Dearing recommendation rather than the unique student record number in itself) would however take a great many years to materialise, because the number could be used only to reference learning episodes occurring from that point on. As an interim measure, we are therefore carrying out a technical evaluation of the possibility of accumulating data on individuals' learning experience by means of so-called "fuzzy matching" based on (for example) names and dates of birth. This approach too has its limits, given the increasing incidence of name changes with age. The aim in the first instance is to cover learning up to age 21, with a view subsequently to extending that up to age 25.

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