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New Deal (18 to 24-year-olds)
Mr. Allan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list by unit of delivery (a) the number of leavers from the full-time education and employment option of the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds from January 1998 to the end of July 1999 and (b) the number of those who left to (i) sustained,
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unsubsidised employment, (ii) jobs lasting less than 13 weeks (iii) no known destination and (iv) benefits other than the jobseeker's allowance. [113675]
Ms Jowell
[holding answer 9 March 2000]: There is no full-time education and employment option in the new deal. However, there is a full time education and training option (FTET) and an employer option. For the period January 1998 to July 1999, the number of leavers from the full-time education and training option and their destinations are shown in tables placed in the Library.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many child care places for under-8s have been available in each of the last three years for which figures are available; and what was the breakdown of places available through (a) day nurseries, (b) pre-school playgroups and (c) child minders. [116083]
Ms Hodge:
The available information is shown in the following table. This information was also published on 22 December 1999 in the Statistical Volume "Children's Day care Facilities at 31 March 1999", which is available in the Library.
| As at 31 March | Day nurseries(17) Total places | Child minders(18) Total places | Playgroups(17) Total places |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999(19) | 247,700 | 337,000 | 347,200 |
| 1998(19) | 223,000 | 370,700 | 383,600 |
| 1997(19) | 193,800 | 365,200 | 383,700 |
(17) The totals include local authority provided, registered and non-registered for day nurseries, and playgroups.
(18) Local authority provided and other registered persons for child minders.
(19) These figures have been rounded to the nearest 100 as appropriate.
Early Years Development Plans
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will require local early years development plans to include data on the actual costs of nursery places and child minding places in each local authority. [116073]
Ms Hodge: We will consider requesting this information in future.
Employment Service
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if employment service staff issuing equipment for the blind are required to declare interests in companies providing this equipment. [R] [115960]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 23 March 2000]: Responsibility for the subject of the 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 Leigh Lewis to Mr. Mark Oaten, dated 27 March 2000:
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As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question regarding Employment Service staff declaring interests in companies
providing equipment for the blind. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
Exceptionally, Employment Service staff may, through the Access to Work programme, purchase equipment for disabled people to use in their job. In most cases, employers actually buy the equipment and claim the costs from the Employment Service. In these cases, Employment Service staff may advise the employer on likely sources of supply, especially where equipment is specialised or there are only a few suppliers.
Employment Service staff who procure goods have to follow Treasury approved purchasing guidelines. These guidelines require that anyone with a personal interest in a purchase must report the fact to a senior manager. A decision is then made on whether the procurement should be passed to another member of staff who has no personal interest in the outcome.
I hope this is helpful.
Footballers
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on negotiations between UEFA and the European Commission regarding the rules allowing professional footballers to work in any EEA country. [114850]
Ms Hodge: My Department notes with interest the discussions that have already taken place between the European Commission and UEFA and we will monitor closely any further developments on this matter.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Polis III System
Mr. Key: To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee if he will reintroduce the screen-based Polis III system for hon. Members and their staff in addition to the browser interface. [116347]
Mr. Allan: This is an operational matter falling within the remit of the Library and the Parliamentary Communications Directorate (PCD). I am advised that the decision to withdraw screen-based access to POLIS for the majority of PDVN users was implemented by PCD and the Library in order to comply with Parliament's IT convergence strategy. The cost of providing millennium compliant terminal emulation software to all PDVN users could not be justified, compared with the benefits of developing the browser-based version. The Library's POLIS development programme is now focused on that service. Future plans include active hypertext links to the text of the Official Report and other parliamentary publications in electronic format, and advanced search capability.
I gather that screen-based POLIS is still available via one of the public access PCs in the Official Publications Library. I have asked the Librarian to investigate whether it could also be placed on the PCs in the Members Library.
All-party Groups
Sir John Stanley:
To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Nuneaton of 22 February 2000, Official Report, column 844W, on all-party groups, if the new rules for all-party groups apply retrospectively from the date of a group's last AGM or from the date of a group's
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first AGM following her answer; if meetings held outside the Palace of Westminster count towards the minimum annual requirement; if a meeting of a group held separately from, but on the same day, and at the same place, as the group's AGM counts towards the minimum annual requirement; and if meetings at which the number of hon. Members present falls below five at any point can be counted towards the minimum annual requirement. [115775]
Mrs. Roe:
I will answer the points raised in my right hon. Friend's question in the order listed.
The new rules have been applied simultaneously to all all-party parliamentary and associate parliamentary groups with effect from 29 February 2000 (ie the date on which each group was individually notified of them).
As long as a meeting has been called by a group, (and is not just an event at which some group members are present, eg a reception), such a meeting would count towards the minimum total, regardless of where it was held; however, the group must keep a record so that it can provide the same information as is required of meetings held on the Parliamentary Estate.
I understand that some groups' AGMs are solely to attend to administrative necessities (eg electing officers), while others may combine their AGM with an ordinary meeting (ie the AGM consists of a few minutes to attend to administrative necessities, followed by the real business). I think this is the separation to which my right hon. Friend refers; meetings count as separate meetings only if they are separated by a significant length of time (ie they are not held on the same day).
The rules require five hon. Members, who are members of the group, to be present for the duration of every meeting.
Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if she will list those hon. Members who currently have passes for temporary research assistants from overseas. [116018]
Mrs. Roe:
No. Details of an hon. Member's staff are matters entirely for that hon. Member and the relevant House authorities.
Mr. Pearson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will publish further details of the new funding to support cluster development, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 21 March. [116660]
Mr. Byers:
I can announce £50 million of new money to enable the RDAs to support clusters, including business incubation, in the English regions. The eight Regional Development Agencies (and the London Development Agency, when it is established in the summer) will be responsible for promoting the development of clusters in their respective regions: the new money, together with existing funding streams, will provide them with resources towards this. This new DTI initiative demonstrates the Government's commitment to strengthening the business agenda in the regions.
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