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New Deal (Wansbeck)
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 18 to 24-year-olds in Wansbeck have entered (a) voluntary work, (b) work experience, (c) education and training and (d) unsubsidised employment through the New Deal in the last year. [153137]
Ms Jowell: Figures for the period January 2000 to the end of December 2000 for the constituency of Wansbeck show the following numbers of young people participated in New Deal:
| Number | |
|---|---|
| Starts to New Deal | 457 |
| Starts to Options | 129 |
| of which: | |
| Employment | 28 |
| Full Time Education and Training | 42 |
| Voluntary Sector | 35 |
| Environment Task Force | 24 |
| Unsubsidised Employment | 295 |
Note:
All options include an element of work experience and training
Age Diversity in Employment
Ms Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to publish the evaluation of the code of practice for age diversity in employment. [153251]
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Ms Hodge: A summary of key findings from the code of practice on age diversity in employment and three other research projects on age will be published at the end of this month.
The full report on the evaluation will be published summer 2001.
Correspondence
Mr. McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he will reply to letters from the hon. Member for West Derbyshire dated 8 November and 21 September 2000 concerning the exclusion from holiday play schemes of children with medical conditions. [153253]
Jacqui Smith: I replied to the hon. Member on Friday 9 March 2001.
Childminders
Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many responses were received to the consultation on national standards for the regulation of day care and childminding in England; how many of the responses were included in the sample considered reaching the decision that the Government would not ban childminders from smoking in front of the children in their care; what method was used to select the sample of responses considered in reaching this decision; and how
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many of the responses considered (a) opposed the proposal that parents should be allowed to decide whether childminders should be allowed to smoke, (b) supported the proposal and (c) neither supported nor opposed the proposal. [153380]
Ms Hodge: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 February 2001, Official Report, columns 365-66W.
Out-of-authority Education
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupils in each local education authority in England were educated in maintained schools in that local education authority and normally resident in other local education authorities in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000. [153295]
Ms Estelle Morris: Information on children educated in a local education authority area other than the one where they normally reside is collected only for those pupils with special educational needs.
Polish Students
Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many Polish students attended summer schools in the United Kingdom in each of the last three years. [151176]
Ms Estelle Morris: I will write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Timber
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if his Department's annual report on timber procurement to the Committee of Green Ministers will be published. [152104]
Mr. Wills: In line with other central Government Departments, DfEE will be reporting annually to the Committee of Green Ministers on its timber purchases. The Green Ministers' annual report will be the main vehicle for publishing DfEE information and there are no plans for a separately published report.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 16 to 24-year-olds were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in (a) May 1997 and (b) January 2001. [152334]
Ms Jowell: The following table illustrates numbers of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants in 1997 and 2001. Figures for January 1997 and January 1998 are also included in order to enable annual comparisons in the absence of seasonal adjustments:
| 16-17 year olds | 18-24 year olds | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1997 | 16,510 | 457,950 | 474,460 |
| May 1997 | 17,750 | 382,020 | 399,780 |
| January 1998 | 15,230 | 357,070 | 372,310 |
| January 2001 | 12,980 | 250,270 | 263,250 |
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Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the cost to the Employment Service has been of, and how many Employment Service staff have been attributable to, the administration of Jobseeker's Allowance. [152450]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 6 March 2001]: 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 Mark Neale to Mr. Graham Brady, dated 12 March 2001:
- As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked Leigh Lewis to reply to your question concerning the Employment Service cost of, and the number of staff attributable to the administration of Jobseeker's Allowance. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mr Lewis as Chief Executive of the Agency. I am replying on Mr Lewis behalf.
- The resource available to the Employment Service for the financial year 2000-2001 to administer Jobseeker's Allowance was £183m. This resource equated to approximately 10,600 staff in Jobcentres.
- I hope this is helpful.
New Deal
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 16 to 24-year-olds have (a) entered the New Deal in London and (b) entered unsubsidised employment through the New Deal since 1998. [152335]
Ms Jowell: Latest figures for the period ending December 2000 show that since the introduction of the New Deal, 89,000 young people have started the New Deal for Young People, aimed at 18 to 24-year-olds, in the Greater London area. 32,200 young people have gained unsubsidised employment as a result of being on the programme. We know that many other young people will have left the programme for employment without telling the Employment Service--these people are not included in this figure. Nationally, in addition to the 274,000 young people recorded as gaining jobs, we estimate that a further 83,000 young people gained jobs from the New Deal.
Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many lone parents in London have participated in the New Deal for lone parents since its inception; and how many have entered employment after participation in the scheme. [152336]
Ms Jowell: All statistics are taken from the New Deal Evaluation Database.
| NDLP latest results | London ES districts |
|---|---|
| Number of Initial Interviews | 27,901 |
| Number agreeing to participate | 24,088 |
| (Percentage of interviewees) | 86 |
| Number of jobs obtained | 7,637 |
| (Percentage of participants) | 32 |
All figures relate to the national programme only up to December 2000
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Post-16 Inspections
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action he is taking to reduce the numbers of forms required to be completed during (a) external and (b) internal inspections of post-16 establishments; and if he will make a statement. [152639]
Mr. Wicks: On external inspections, all the inspectorates require providers to complete one or two forms to enable the planning of inspections. In the future in line with guidance given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State such information will be routed to the inspectorates through the Learning and Skills Council. During the inspection, inspectors draw from standard documentation prepared and made available by providers. The Secretary of State has required the new Post-16 inspectorates to keep the burden of inspection to a minimum consistent with maintaining the rigour and quality of inspection. As to internal inspections, how these are conducted are matters for the providers themselves.
A-level Students
Mr. Nicholls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of A-level students working to fund their studies; what assessment he has made of the effects that this has had on their results; and if he will make a statement. [152095]
Mr. Wicks: According to the Youth Cohort Study, 53 per cent. of 16-18-year-old A-level students, in full-time education, were also in some form of employment. They worked an average of 10 hours per week. Research evidence indicates that young people choose to undertake part-time work for a variety of reasons: not solely to finance their studies.
I am not aware of studies specifically looking at the effects of paid work on the results of A-level students. However, the evaluation of the first year of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) found that young people, in EMA pilot and control areas, who worked in Year 11 achieved better exam results than those that did not. Subsequent stages of the EMA evaluation should throw further light on this issue.
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