---

Physical Education

15. Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress has been made in reaching the target of two hours physical education a week for pupils at all key stage levels. [123348]

Jacqui Smith: We have set a very clear aspiration that all schools should provide two hours of physical activity a week, both within and outside lesson time. We are now working to inspire schools and partners in the sports sector to deliver this through the Sport Strategy.

8 Jun 2000 : Column: 341W

New Deal (Over-50s)

16. Mr. Anthony D. Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the Government's new deal for the over-50s. [123349]

Ms Jowell: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister launched New Deal 50 Plus nationally in April and I am pleased to announce that in its first four weeks over 1,700 people have gone back to work with the help of the Employment Credit. We plan to spend a total of £270 million to the end of this Parliament on this targeted help for people over 50 looking for work.

Employment Service Direct

17. Mr. Singh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average weekly number of jobs secured through the Employment Service Direct. [123351]

Ms Jowell: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mrs. Brinton), Official Report, column 410.

Our most recent records show that between January 1999, when Employment Service Direct began, and 19 May 2000, the average weekly number of jobseekers who have been helped by the Service is 1,148.

Between January 2000 and 19 May 2000, the average weekly number is 1,319.

New Deal (Yorkshire and Humberside)

18. Mr. Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many employers have signed up to support the New Deal in the Yorkshire and Humberside region. [123352]

Ms Jowell: By the end of April, 7,000 employers in Yorkshire and the Humber Region had signed agreements supporting the New Deal.

Failing Schools

19. Mr. Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what incentives he is planning to encourage successful teachers to move to work in failing schools. [123353]

Ms Estelle Morris: The new pay system for teachers, which comes into effect from 1 September 2000, will introduce more flexibility for schools to make recruitment and retention payments to classroom teachers in challenging situations. From September such payments will be worth up to £3,765 for schools in inner London in special measures, and can be paid as salary enhancements or as one-off bonuses. In September 1999 we introduced flexibility within the pay system to offer head teachers significantly increased rewards if they perform well at schools deemed as failing.

Mr. Rowe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received on the number of failing schools. [123343]

Ms Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a wide range of representations on failing schools from hon. Members and other interested

8 Jun 2000 : Column: 342W

parties. We are particularly encouraged that because of decisive action by this Government, the time it takes to turn around a failing school has fallen from 25 months under the Conservatives to 18 months now. The imposition of a deadline for improvement has been the key factor in this.

New Deal (Administrative Burden)

20. Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the burden of administration for employers wishing to participate in the New Deal. [123354]

Ms Jowell: The New Deal is an unqualified success. 70,000 employers have signed up to New Deal and over 200,000 young people have left and found jobs. Paperwork is kept to a minimum needed to safeguard public funds.

Information and Communication Technology

Learning Centres

21. Mrs. Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the development of information and communication technology learning centres. [123355]

Mr. Wills: In the March 1999 Budget the Chancellor announced the development of around 700 ICT Learning Centres across England. The initiative is targeted at disadvantaged communities, including: the 2,000 most deprived local authority wards; rural areas with significant transport and deprivation problems; and disadvantaged client groups with low or no ICT skills.

This initiative centres on people living and working in the most disadvantaged communities and will provide access to ICT and learning into disadvantaged communities to bridge the gap between those in society who have access to ICT and those who do not. Early centres were announced in October. A further round of centres were announced in January when the prospectus for the main rollout of the programme was published. Over 300 applications have been received for the first phase of the programme. The first successful projects will be announced in September.

Employment Zones

22. Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Employment Zones in helping the long-term unemployed into work. [123356]

Ms Jowell: It is too early to assess the effectiveness of the 15 Employment Zones that were launched in April and May of this year. The Zones will be operational until March 2002 and we will, of course, be monitoring and evaluating their progress over the next two years.

Performance-related Pay

23. Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the anticipated take-up rate of performance-related pay for teachers. [123357]

8 Jun 2000 : Column: 343W

Ms Estelle Morris: All teachers who apply for assessment at the performance threshold and are assessed as meeting the national standards will pass. We have set no limits on take-up.

24. Mr. Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment upon what aspects of his performance-related pay proposals teachers from the SEN sector have made representations. [123358]

Ms Estelle Morris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received a variety of representations on the new pay structure for teachers, including a number from heads and teachers involved in providing for SEN. He has made clear his intention that teachers from the SEN sector should be able to benefit from the new pay system in the same way as other teachers.

33. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent representations he has received on performance-related pay for teachers. [123368]

Ms Estelle Morris: On 2 May we launched consultation on the draft School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document with the statutory consultees. These are the organisations we are required to consult with as part of the Review body process: teaching and headteachers' unions, governors' representatives and the National Employers. The consultation will run until 2 June. We will take the consultation responses into account in finalising the text of the Pay and Conditions Document, which will come into force from September 2000.

Specialist Schools

25. Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many Sports Colleges he expects will result from the next round of specialist school designations. [123359]

Ms Estelle Morris: All of the applications received in the June 2000 Sports College competition will be considered in relation to the published criteria. It is not possible at this stage to estimate the number of designations we will make. We expect to be on schedule to reach the target of 110 Sports Colleges by 2003 as set out in the recent Sports Strategy "A Sporting Future for All".

Top-up Student Fees

26. Mr. Rammell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his response to the Russell Group of Universities' proposals for top-up student fees. [123360]

Mr. Wicks: The Government have legislated to prevent higher education institutions from charging "top-up" tuition fees. We are putting increased resources into higher education. This is an 11 per cent. increase in real terms amounting to an extra £1 billion in the four years from 1998.

Adult Literacy and Numeracy

27. Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his plans to improve levels of adult literacy and numeracy. [123361]

8 Jun 2000 : Column: 344W

Mr. Wicks: The Government are committed to tackling poor literacy and numeracy among adults. Last year we announced an additional £17 million to support the first phase of our campaign, and many of the new measures announced at the time are now in place or are well on the way. On 22 May my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment dedicated a further £20.25 million this year to improving adult and family literacy and numeracy skills. He will announce a full national strategy later this year and is putting in place a new Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit within this Department to drive forward its implementation.

---