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Equal Pay (British Coal)
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the recent representations she has received about the equal pay claims of female canteen workers and cleaners against the former British Coal. [7537]
Ms Hewitt: In the last month I have received in the region of 110 representations on this issue. These have come from Members of Parliament and private individuals.
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many payments have been made and what is the total amount paid to settle the equal pay claims between female canteen workers and cleaners and British Coal. [7536]
Ms Hewitt: To date we have made 1,256 payments totalling around £10.7 million. The total cost of settlement will be in the region of £14 million.
Supermarkets
Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the supermarkets' voluntary code of practice toward suppliers in preventing monopoly practices. [7267]
Miss Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is currently considering the Director General of Fair Trading's advice on a draft Code of Practice, recommended by the Competition Commission, to put relations between supermarkets and their suppliers on a clearer and more predictable basis.
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Sub-Post Offices
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many sub-post offices closed in each of the first two quarters of the 2001–02 financial year. [7665]
Mr. Alexander: I understand from Post Office Ltd. that total net closure of post offices in the first quarter of the current financial year was 119 and that figures for the second quarter to end September are not yet available.
Enterprise Bill
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to publish an Enterprise Bill; and if she will make a statement. [7560]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The two White Papers "Productivity and Enterprise: A World Class Competition Regime" and "Productivity and Enterprise: Insolvency—A Second Chance", published on 31 July, set out the Government's proposals for a series of radical pro- enterprise reforms to competition and bankruptcy rules.
The Government are committed to implementing these White Papers, and we have invited views on our proposals. Proposals for an Enterprise Bill were included in the Queen's speech in June of this year.
Phoenix Fund Grants
Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Small Business Service is taking to promote the availability of Phoenix Fund grants in deprived areas. [7804]
Nigel Griffiths: The Small Business Service is taking a range of actions to promote the availability of Phoenix Fund grants in deprived areas, including targeted mailshots to organisations that may wish to apply, news release for local press, TV and radio and information about the Fund on its website www.sbs.gov.uk/phoenix
A total of 668 applications have been received to date and 111 projects are under way. A further bidding round for support under the Fund for Community Development Financial Institutions is currently being held with a closing date of 26 October.
Devolved Administrations
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is with regard to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in her Department giving evidence to (i) Scottish Parliament, (ii) Welsh Assembly and (iii) Northern Ireland Assembly committees; and to what categories of document she gives (A) full access, (B) restricted access and (C) no access to (w) Scottish Parliament, (x) Welsh Assembly, (y) Northern Ireland Assembly and (z) House of Commons select committees. [7051]
Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office.
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EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Cerebral Palsy Sufferers
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding streams are available to voluntary organisations providing conductive education to children with cerebral palsy. [6265]
Mr. Timms: Any voluntary organisation or group in England which is working with or seeking to support pupils with special educational needs can apply to the Department for funding through the Special Educational Needs Small Programme Fund. The Fund supports projects that are time limited to one year to a maximum of £30,000.
Language Qualifications
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if (a) GCSE, (b) A levels and (c) AS level qualifications are available in (i) Gujarati, (ii) Hindi, (iii) Somali and (iv) Urdu; which UK universities accept A levels or equivalent in these languages as satisfying admission criteria; and if she will make a statement. [6439]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: GCSE and AS/A level qualifications are available in Gujarati and Urdu. Hindi and Somali are not available at GCSE and AS/A level. Universities are autonomous bodies and each university is responsible for its own admissions criteria. The Department does not hold a list of the admissions criteria for each university. Candidates are advised to contact universities of their choice to find out entry requirements for careers they wish to pursue in advance of starting an A level course.
Sixth Form Education
Mr. Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to encourage more students to enter sixth form education; and if she will make a statement. [6642]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We have set out our vision for post-16 learning in the recent White Paper "Schools Achieving Success". We want all young people to continue after the age of 16 in high quality learning opportunities which best meet their needs and potential. This may be in school, college or in the work based route. We have established the Learning and Skills Council to drive this forward and have put in place a number of measures which provide the support and incentives young people need to take up and succeed in learning. We are introducing the new Connexions Service to provide advice and guidance to young people on the full range of learning options open to them and to help them progress within their chosen learning environment. We are also addressing the financial barriers to participation through piloting the Education Maintenance Allowance Scheme; providing Discretionary Funding targeted at specific learner needs, and the Connexions Card, which offers discounts on transport and learning materials.
Primary School Pupils (Travel)
Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary age pupils are obliged to travel more than three miles to school; and how many did so in the school year before key stage 1 and 2 classes were limited to 30. [6656]
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Mr. Timms: My Department does not keep figures of primary school children obliged to travel more than three miles to school. The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions has provided the following figures for all school journey lengths from its National Travel Survey.
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| Under 1 mile | 58 |
| 1 to under 2 miles | 22 |
| 2 to under 3 miles | 7 |
| 3 to under 5 miles | 7 |
| 5 miles and over | 6 |
Legislation to limit the size of infant classes for five, six and seven-year-olds to 30 or fewer came into force in September. The limit does not extend to key stage 2 classes. In implementing the limit we have made it clear to local education authorities that no child should have to travel an unreasonable distance to school because of the class size limit.
School/College Transport
Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of education spending is taken up by home to school/college transport; and if she will make a statement. [6657]
Mr. Timms: Home to school/college transport accounts for some 2.5 per cent. of education spending.
Teacher Training Students
Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of teacher training students in England and Wales completed their courses successfully in each of the past 10 years; and if she will make a statement. [6658]
Mr. Timms: The Initial Teacher Training Performance Profiles, published by the Teacher Training Agency show the percentage of final year trainees at 1 December in England who gained Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Figures are only available for academic years 1996–97 to 1999–2000.
| Year | |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 87 |
| 1997–98 | 87 |
| 1998–99 | 89 |
| 1999–2000 | 88 |
Note:
1. The figures cover providers in England only.
2. The numbers of final year trainees awarded QTS relate to final examination boards at the end of the academic year. QTS awards made after the November following a trainee's final year will not be included in these figures.
Source:
Teacher Training Agency, ITT Performance Profiles
These figures do not take into account drop-out during earlier years of the course, which mainly applies to undergraduate trainees; nor do they include awards of qualified teacher status made after the November following a trainee's final year.
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For the figures for Wales, I refer the hon. Member to the Welsh National Assembly.
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