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Special Advisers
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many special advisers worked in his Department from 1997 to date. [160029]
Mr. Wills [holding answer 1 May 2001]: Since 3 May 1997, no more than three full-time equivalent special advisers have been in post at any one time.
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the total cost was of employing special advisers in his Department from 1997 to date. [160045]
Mr. Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office on 1 May 2001, Official Report, column 607W.
Class Sizes
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average class size was for each year of secondary school in the north-west in each of the years from 1997 to date. [160080]
Ms Estelle Morris: The available data are shown in the table.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001(19) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classes mainly under 14 | 24.5 | 24.6 | 24.7 | 24.7 | (21)-- |
| Classes mainly 14 and 15 | 21.2 | 21.3 | 21.2 | 21.4 | (21)-- |
| Classes mainly 16+ | 10.4 | 10.5 | 10.3 | 10.6 | (21)-- |
| Year group 7 and below(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 24.9 |
| Year group 8(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 25 |
| Year group 9(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 24.4 |
| Year group 10(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 21.6 |
| Year group 11(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 21.1 |
| Year group 12(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 11.6 |
| Year group 13(20) | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | (21)-- | 9.4 |
(19) Provisional.
(20) Includes middle deemed secondary schools.
(21) Information by year group was collected for the first time in 2001 and only classes where a specific year group was given have been included, i.e. not mixed.
The size of the average secondary class nationally, at 22.0, is still five below the average primary class. In 2001-02 secondary headteachers will receive an average of £70,000 and primary headteachers £24,000 in direct grant to spend as they choose including on reducing class sizes if that is their priority.
The full-time equivalent number of regular secondary teachers in the north-west increased by 1,300 between January 1997 and January 2001.
In addition, the size of the average primary class in the north-west has gone down from 27.9 in January 1997 to 26.7 in January 2001. The corresponding figure for primary children in the Ribble Valley constituency is from 29.1 to 27.7.
8 May 2001 : Column: 104W
Tuition Fees
Dr. Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if it is his policy to ensure that student contributions towards tuition fees should rise in line with inflation. [159814]
Mr. Wicks [holding answer 1 May 2001]: The maximum level of student contributions to tuition fees for students at publicly funded institutions is uprated each year to take account of inflation. In the next academic year it will be £1,075. How much students actually pay depends on an assessment of their income. Currently, over 40 per cent. of students make no contribution to their tuition fees and that figure will rise to around 50 per cent. from this September because we have raised the contribution thresholds above the level of inflation. We estimate that from September the average contribution made by students will be just £1,400 over the whole of a three-year course.
Work-life Balance Challenge Fund
Ms Kelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the local authorities that have applied for funding from the Work-life Balance Challenge Fund; and how many have been successful. [160301]
Ms Hodge: The following shows that 56 local authorities applied for the Challenge Fund, of which 25 have been successful 1 :
- Bedford Borough Council 1
Bedfordshire County Council
Bolton Metropolitan Council (Housing Department) 1
Braintree District Council 1
Bristol City Council, The Equalities Unit 1
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council 1
Cambridgeshire County Council
Chelmsford Borough Council
Cheshire County Council
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
Congleton Borough Council
Coventry City Council
Devon County Council 1
Dorset County Council
Forest of Dean District Council 1
Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council 1
Hertfordshire County Council 1
Kent County Council
- Kingston Upon Hull City Council 1
Leicester County Council, Education Department 1
London Borough of Camden 1
London Borough of Croydon
London Borough of Enfield
London Borough of Merton 1
Medway Council 1
Mid Bedfordshire District Council
Norfolk County Council 1
North Lincolnshire Council
Nottingham City Council 1
Peak District National Authority 1
Perth and Kinross Council 1
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council Education Department 1
8 May 2001 : Column: 105W
Redditch Borough Council
Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council 1
Rutland County Council
Salford City Council
Sefton Education Department 1
- Sheffield City Council
Shropshire Social Services Directorate 1
Slough Borough Council
Somerset County Council
South Gloucestershire Council, Education Service
St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council
Staffordshire County Council
Stockton-on-Tees Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership 1
- Stoke-on-Trent Social Services Department
Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Surrey Social Services 1
The London Borough of Hounslow
The London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Warrington Borough Council
West Berkshire Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
West Lancashire District Council 1 . 1 Successful
Ms Hodge: We received 180 applications for the Work-life Balance Challenge Fund for the year 2000-01, of which 116 were from the public sector, 43 from the private sector and 21 from the voluntary sector. We have been able to support 88 projects, of which 49 are from the public sector, 34 from the private sector and six from the voluntary sector. Currently we are inviting applications for this year's (2001-02) Challenge Fund.
Jobseekers
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many jobseekers have been provided with mobile phones to help them find work. [160202]
Ms Jowell [holding answer 3 May 2001]: Employment Zones aim to provide new and innovative solutions to help people back into work in 15 areas of persistently high unemployment. 1126 mobile phones have been issued to participants; 3 per cent. of the 35,000 total clients. Action Teams for Jobs are targeting the barriers preventing jobless people getting and keeping work in 40 areas in Great Britain. 63 of 17257 participants (0.35 per cent.) in Action Teams have had mobile phones issued where there was a clear jobsearch benefit to the individual.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many jobseekers have been given financial help to (a) buy a car (b) buy a motorcycle and (c) take driving lessons, by the employment hit squads announced in June 2000. [160221]
8 May 2001 : Column: 106W
Ms Jowell [holding answer 3 May 2001]: The 40 Action Teams for Jobs in deprived areas are targeting the barriers preventing jobless people getting and keeping work. Over 5,000 people have been helped into work so far. Financial assistance has been provided to buy 28 vehicles and 382 driving lessons, mainly in rural areas where vacancies are a distance away from people's homes or suitable transport is required for self-employment purposes or as an incentive to encourage people to take up jobs which would normally not be accessible to them.
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