You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Hansard > Commons Debates > Commons Debates by date > Commons Debates - previous sessions > Bound Volume Hansard - Written Answers
Previous Section Index Home Page

Connexions Service

Mr. Prior: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what safeguards will be put in place in respect of the new Connexions Service to ensure that personal advisers, learning mentors and Connexions advisers will provide impartial advice and guidance to learners to the standard and level of competence of careers service organisations. [125866]

Mr. Wicks: The Connexions Service will offer at least the same level of impartial careers information, advice and guidance for 13 to 19 year olds as is currently provided by careers services. Local managers from the Connexions Service will agree with schools how personal advisers operating on their premises will be deployed and managed. This agreement will show how careers advice and guidance will be delivered in the institution, and ensure that students know which individuals can offer

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 331W

advice which is impartial. However, in order to remove the significant barriers to learning that many young people face, the range of information, advice and guidance provided by the Connexions Service will be extended to cover matters relating to, for example, housing and health.

Learning Mentors and personal advisers will work side by side in schools in order to provide coherent advice, support and guidance to pupils.

Learning Mentors will work closely with the pastoral and other staff of the school with the individual achievement of the pupil as the common focus. They also provide one stop access to specialist support services where necessary.

Mr. Prior: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what safeguards will be in place to ensure that personal advisers in schools with sixth forms, appointed and managed by headteachers, will deliver impartial, independent careers advice to pupils. [125867]

Mr. Wicks: The provision of impartial careers information, advice and guidance will be a core function of the Connexions Service. Connexions Service Personal Advisers will bring essential knowledge of the range of post-16 and career opportunities to school pupils, their parents and teachers. Local managers from the Connexions Service will agree with schools how personal advisers operating on their premises will be deployed and managed. This agreement will show how careers advice and guidance will be delivered in the institution, and ensure that students know which individuals can offer advice which is impartial.

University Funding

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which universities have received support from the (a) Higher Education Reach Out to Business and Community Fund, (b) the University Challenge Fund and (c) Science Enterprise Challenge Initiative; what is the value of each award; and for what period of time each award has been allocated. [126585]

Mr. Wicks: The following tables provide details of support universities and colleges have received from the (a) Higher Education Reach Out to Business and Community Fund, (b) the University Challenge Fund and (c) Science Enterprise Challenge Initiative.

(a) Higher Education Reach Out to Business and the Community Fund

InstitutionTotal funding allocation (£000)Time period of award
Anglia Polytechnic University5502000 to 2003
Aston University1,1002000 to 2003
University of Bath1,1002000 to 2003
Bath Spa University College2752000 to 2003
Birkbeck College4662000 to 2003
University of Birmingham1,1002000 to 2003
Bolton Institute of HE5502000 to 2003
Bournemouth University5502000 to 2003
University of Bradford5502000 to 2003
University of Brighton5502000 to 2003
University of Bristol1,1002000 to 2003
Brunel University1,1002000 to 2003
University of Cambridge1,1002000 to 2003
Canterbury Christ Church University College2752000 to 2003
University of Central England5502000 to 2003
Central School of Speech and Drama2752000 to 2003
City University5502000 to 2003
City University--Collaborative5502000 to 2003
De Montfort University1,1002000 to 2003
University of Derby1,1002000 to 2003
University of Durham1,0082000 to 2003
University of East Anglia5502000 to 2003
University of East London5502000 to 2003
Edge Hill College of HE2752000 to 2003
University of Essex5362000 to 2003
University of Exeter1,0922000 to 2003
Falmouth College of Arts252000
Harper Adams University College5502000 to 2003
University of Hertfordshire1,1002000 to 2003
Imperial College1,1002000 to 2003
Keele University5502000 to 2003
Kingston University5502000 to 2003
King's College London1,1002000 to 2003
University of Leeds1,0982000 to 2003
University of Leeds--Collaborative982000 to 2002
Leeds Metropolitan University5502000 to 2003
University of Leicester1,1002000 to 2003
University of Lincolnshire and Humberside5502000 to 2003
London School of Economics1002000
London Guildhall University5502000 to 2003
London Guildhall--Collaborative4252000 to 2002
Loughborough University1,1002000 to 2003
University of Manchester1,1002000 to 2003
UMIST1,1002000 to 2003
Manchester Metropolitan University1,1002000 to 2003
Manchester Metropolitan University--Collaborative5502000 to 2003
Middlesex University5502000 to 2003
University College Northampton252000
University of Newcastle upon Tyne1,1002000 to 2003
Newman College--Collaborative1852000 to 2003
North Riding College1472000 to 2003
University of Nottingham1,1002000 to 2003
The Nottingham Trent University1,1002000 to 2003
The Open University1,1002000 to 2003
University of Oxford1,0012000 to 2003
Oxford Brookes University5502000 to 2003
University of Plymouth1,1002000 to 2003
University of Portsmouth5502000 to 2003
University of Reading1,1002000 to 2003
Royal College of Art2752000 to 2003
Royal Holloway4802000 to 2003
Royal Veterinary College5502000 to 2003
College of St. Mark and St. John2752000 to 2003
St. Martin's College2752000 to 2003
St. Mary's College1472000 to 2003
University of Salford1,1002000 to 2003
University of Sheffield1,1002000 to 2003
Sheffield Hallam University1,0932000 to 2003
University of Southampton1,1002000 to 2003
Southampton Institute5502000 to 2003
South Bank University9662000 to 2003
Staffordshire University1,1002000 to 2003
University of Sunderland5502000 to 2003
University of Surrey1,0992000 to 2003
Surrey Institute of Art and Design1472000 to 2003
University of Sussex1,1002000 to 2003
University of Teesside5502000 to 2003
Thames Valley University5502000 to 2003
Trinity and All Saints1472000 to 2003
University College London1,1002000 to 2003
University of Warwick1,0052000 to 2003
University of Westminster5502000 to 2003
University of the West of England1,1002000 to 2003
University of Wolverhampton5502000 to 2003
University College Worcester2752000 to 2003
The Queen's University of Belfast1,1002000 to 2003
University of Ulster1,1002000 to 2003
Total62,353

A second round of proposals to the Higher Education Reach Out to Business and the Community Fund were

invited in February 2000, the results of which are due to be announced in July 2000.

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 334W

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 333W

(b) University Challenge Fund

£ million
University of Leeds/University of Sheffield/University of York(8)4.5
University of Manchester/UMIST4.5
University of Bath/University of Bristol3.75
University of Birmingham/University of Warwick3.0
University of Cambridge/The Babraham Institute3.0
University of Cardiff/University of Wales College of Medicine3.0
Imperial College, London3.0
King's College London/Queen Mary and Westfield College London3.0
London Business School/King's College London/Queen Mary and Westfield College/University College London3.0
University of Oxford3.0
University of Strathclyde/University of Glasgow3.0
University College London/Institute of Cancer Research/Cancer Research Campaign Technologies Ltd./School of Pharmacy London/Imperial Cancer Research Fund/Royal Veterinary College3.0
University of Edinburgh/The Moredun Foundation/The Roslin Biotechnology Centre/The UK Astronomy Technology Centre of PPARC/Edinburgh Station of the British Geological Survey2.25
Queen's University Belfast/University of Ulster2.0
University of Aberystwyth/The Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER)1.0
Total45.0

(8) White Rose Consortium

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 333W

Details of how the University Challenge Fund operates are set out in "The University Challenge Fund Guidelines 1998-99", a copy of which is in the House Library.

My noble Friend Lord Sainsbury of Turville announced on 10 March 1999 that there will be a second University Challenge competition in due course.

(c) Science Enterprise Challenge Initiative

£ millionTime period of award
Bristol2.61999-2004
Cambridge(9)2.91999-2004
Glasgow4.01999-2004
Imperial College of Science and Technology2.01999-2004
London Business School4.61999-2004
UMIST3.21999-2004
Nottingham2.51999-2004
Sheffield2.91999-2004
Total24.7

(9) Cambridge will have an enterprise centre, but funded out of the money made available for the Cambridge-MIT Institute, not out of Science Enterprise Challenge money.


Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what criteria are used to assess the success of the Higher Education Reach Out to Business & Community Fund awards. [126586]

Mr. Wicks: The Higher Education Reach Out to Business and the Community Fund is a new fund. The first activities supported under the fund started in January this year. Annex B of the Higher Education Funding Council for England's invitation to bid (HEFCE Circular 99/40) provided details of the monitoring and evaluation arrangements. This document is available in the Library and on the Council's website.

23 Jun 2000 : Column: 334W

Next Section Index Home Page