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Supported Employment
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on (a) the extra demand for and (b) the extra provision of supported employment places in each year since 1997 and projected forward to 2003. [112117]
Ms Hodge [holding answer 28 February 2000]: A report on research conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies into the Supply and Demand for Supported Employment was published in July 1998. A copy is available in the Library.
Some 22,234 Supported Employment places were provided in 1996. In 1997 this rose by 506 places to 22,740 (a 2.2 per cent. increase) and in 1998 by a further 184 places to 22,924 (3 per cent. over 1996). Figures for 1999 are not yet available but for this year and for the period to 2003 I expect numbers to continue to increase.
Access and Hardship Funds
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what arrangements he will put in place for monitoring, standardising and accounting for payments of access fund bursaries for (a) mature and (b) young students. [112120]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 28 February 2000]: We will issue guidance on the bursary schemes for higher education institutions which will include the monitoring and accounting arrangements. It will be for HEFCE to publish this guidance. Arrangements for awarding the bursaries will be at the discretion of institutions, within the guidance provided.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he will issue revised guidance to the HEFCE and higher education institutions on the use of the Access and Hardship Funds. [112119]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 28 February 2000]: We plan to issue guidance on the Access Funds in March, and on the Hardship Funds shortly after Easter. It will be for the HEFCE to pass this on to the higher education institutions.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if Scottish students studying at English universities will be eligible for (a) Access Fund bursaries and (b) the Hardship Fund. [112121]
Mr. Wicks
[holding answer 28 February 2000]: Access Funds and Hardship Funds in England are administered by higher education institutions, following guidance provided by the Department. We have no plans to change the current eligibility conditions for payments from the Hardship Fund. Eligibility for the Access Fund Bursaries will be set out in Guidance to be provided to higher education institutions.
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Mr. Wyatt:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the provision for special educational needs in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. [111085]
Jacqui Smith:
Children with special educational needs in Sittingbourne and Sheppey are usually placed either at one of the 64 mainstream primary and secondary schools or at one of the two special schools or at one of five special educational needs units, all of which are within the Swale District of Kent local education authority.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if places on holiday play schemes and privately financed sports weeks are included within his Department's figures for the number of child care places created; and if he will list the number of such places included in, and the proportion they represent of, the total new child care places announced since May 1997. [111027]
Ms Hodge
[holding answer 21 February 2000]: Since May 1997 we have announced the creation of 149,606 new child care places.
Between May 1997 and March 1999 a total of 73,316 new child care places were created. Most of these places were created through the Out of School Childcare Initiative (OSCI). We do not hold separate figures on holiday play schemes. Privately financed sport weeks would not have attracted OSCI funding.
Between April and September 1999 Early Years and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs) reported the creation of around 76,000 new child care places. Of these 29,724 (39 per cent.) were holiday play scheme places. Some 60 per cent. of these holiday places were in the voluntary sector, 25 per cent. were in the private sector and 15 per cent. were in the maintained sector. Some of the play scheme places in the private sector may have included privately financed sports weeks, but we do not hold separate figures.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to allow the Employment Service to bid for new contracts as part of the Employment Zone initiative; and if he will make a statement. [111022]
Ms Jowell
[holding answer 21 February 2000]: In our bidding guidance for both rounds of the competition to run Employment Zones, we invited bids from the private, public and voluntary sectors. The Employment Service chose to bid under the name of 'Working Links' in partnership with two leading private sector companies. They proceeded to win eight out of fifteen Zones, subject to post-tender negotiations.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the successful bidders for Employment Zone contracts for the long-term unemployed. [111007]
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Ms Jowell:
Subject to negotiation, contracts will be awarded to: Working Links (a consortium of Ernst and Young, Manpower plc and the Employment Service) in Heads of the Valleys and Caerphilly, Brent, Brighton and Hove, Glasgow, Plymouth, Southwark, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Tower Hamlets; Reed and Partners in Haringey, Liverpool and Sefton, Newham and Doncaster; Pertemps in Birmingham; the North West Wales Partnership in North West Wales and the Nottingham Employment Zone Partnership in Nottingham.
Mr. Boswell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on current developments at Remploy. [110371]
Ms Hodge
[holding answer 21 February 2000]: A new Chairman, Alan Pedder, took up appointment on 5 January 2000. He has been working with his Board to develop a strategy for the Company.
The key elements of the strategy are to:
Mr. Reed:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the cash and percentage funding variance of Leicestershire county council from the county council Standard Spending Assessment average in each year between 1991-92 to 2000-01. [110840]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The information requested is shown in the following table:
(Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
create more opportunities for disabled people, including continued expansion of Interwork and support for disabled people to progress to unsubsidised jobs;
use existing Remploy factories more effectively to provide training and development, as well as work, for their employees, thus supporting people to progress both within and outside Remploy;
continue to modernise factories to drive for increased business opportunities;
streamline the commercial management and administration of the Company;
increase marketing initiatives to generate new sales.
| Cash £ million | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|
| 1990-91 | 49.2 | 21.6 |
| 1991-92 | 56.6 | 21.4 |
| 1992-93 | 61.4 | 21.7 |
| 1993-94(17) | 56.4 | 22.1 |
| 1994-95 | 53.3 | 20.5 |
| 1995-96 | 52.8 | 20.0 |
| 1996-97 | 64.5 | 24.0 |
| 1997-98(18) | -50.1 | -19.9 |
| 1998-99 | -35.5 | -14.2 |
| 1999-2000 | -30.2 | -11.7 |
| 2000-01 | -31.5 | -11.6 |
(17) In 1993-94 Education Standard Spending was reduced by the creation of the Further Education Funding Council and the subsequent reduction in post-16 funding.
(18) In 1997-98 £527 million was removed from Education Standard Spending for the Nursery Voucher Scheme. Leicestershire was also affected by Local Government Reorganisation--the old Leicestershire LEA was split into Leicester City, Rutland and 1997 Leicestershire. The figures from 1997-98 to 2000-01 quoted in this table are for 1997 Leicestershire.
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Citizenship Education
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what plans he has to issue guidance for teachers on the teaching of controversial subjects as part of Citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4; [110936]
- (2) what assessment he has made of the amount of curricular time needed for the teaching of Citizenship as a foundation subject at key stages 3 and 4; [110937]
(3) what factors underlay his decision to require pupils at key stage 3 to be taught about regional identities in the United Kingdom as part of the programme of study for Citizenship; [110938]
(4) what plans he has to implement the recommendation of the Advisory Group on Citizenship for the establishing of a Commission on Citizenship Education to monitor and scrutinise the implementation of Citizenship education; [110939]
(5) what estimate he has made of the number of additional teachers who will need to be recruited in order to teach Citizenship at key stages 3 and 4; [110940]
(6) what estimate he has made of the annual cost of implementing Citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4. [110941]
Jacqui Smith: The introduction of Citizenship education in schools was supported during the consultation on the review of the National Curriculum. We are actively taking forward plans to implement the new arrangements for the introduction as a statutory subject at Key Stages 3 and 4 in 2002. I chair a working party in the Department for Education and Employment developing a package of measures to support schools in delivering the Citizenship programme. The Working Party's membership is drawn from head teachers, advisers, Citizenship education groups and the churches. The hon. Member for Faversham and Mid-Kent (Mr. Rowe) is also a member. It includes representatives from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Office for Standards in Education and the Teacher Training Agency. It is considering the requirements for teachers and teacher training for Citizenship education as part of its remit along with other issues such as assessment, community involvement and resources.
Standards Funds of £18 million have already been made available from April 2000 to support schools in implementing the revised National Curriculum--some £12 million of that will support Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education, of which £5 million is for Citizenship at Key Stages 3 and 4. The wider costs to the Government of introducing Citizenship education are being considered as part of the Citizenship Education Working Party's work.
Pupils will be taught, within the Citizenship programme, about the regional identities in the United Kingdom as part of learning about the diversity of our society and the need for mutual understanding and respect. The teaching of controversial issues arises in other subjects as well as in Citizenship. There are well established safeguards in law to guard against biased and unbalanced teaching. The report of the National Advisory Group on Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools acknowledged these in its final
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report in September 1998 and included a note on the teaching of controversial issues. Guidance for schools on this and other matters will be provided as part of initial planning guidance to be issued by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.
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