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New Deal (Disabled People)

Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the new deal for Disabled People pilot studies. [18410]

Mr. Nicholas Brown: I have been asked to reply.

Evaluation has shown that the New Deal for Disabled People Personal Adviser Service and Innovative Schemes produced encouraging results.

Pilot evaluation reports are available in the Library and on the new deal website.

The national extension of the new deal for disabled people from 2 July 2001 was informed by the pilot evaluation reports. It too will be evaluated to find the best ways of helping disabled people find work.

Equal Opportunities Commission

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the administration costs of the Equal Opportunities Commission were in 2000–01; and what she expects them to be in 2001–02. [21294]

Ms Hewitt: I have been asked to reply.

I am replying as I am responsible for the financial arrangements of the Equal Opportunities Commission. The Commission's administration costs in 2000–01 were £6.929 million. The Commission expects their administration costs to be £6.333 million during the current financial year. Details of the Commission's expenditure are published in their combined annual report and accounts, which is available to the public.

Older People

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will set out for each of the conclusions in section 6.4 of the Performance and Innovation Unit report, 'Winning the Generation Game', (a) what progress her Department has made and (b) what future plans her Department has for acting on them; and if she will set out against each of the conclusions the targets and deadlines that have been set. [24196]

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given today by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, at column 335W.

Teachers' Qualifications

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 22 October 2001, Official Report, column 44W, for what

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 418W

reason figures have not been collected since 1996–97 on the percentage of secondary school teachers holding an appropriate subject qualification. [10407]

Mr. Timms: Surveys to collect these figures have been undertaken every four to five years. We plan to conduct another survey shortly.

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the reasons for the difference between the final voted departmental expenditure limit and provisional outturn for financial year 2000–01, as listed in the Treasury document, Public Expenditure 2000–01: Provisional Outturn, for Vote I, Department for Education and Employment, subcategories (a) 1 Department of Employment: programmes and central services and (b) 5 Sure Start; and if she will make a statement. [24111]

Estelle Morris: Full details of outturn against 2000–01 voted provision will be published in the appropriation accounts to be presented to the House of Commons by 31 January 2002. The departmental resource account on an accruals basis will also be presented to the House of Commons before 31 January. Updated estimates of the outturn for Departmental Expenditure Limits in 2000–01 on an accruals basis were published in the 2001 pre-Budget report (Cm 5318), Table B16.

New Deal (Over-25s)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people were employed by her Department under the new deal for the over-25s; and at what cost to the public funds in 2001–02. [21688]

Estelle Morris: Information follows on the number of people currently employed by my Department under the new deal for over-25s. New deal recruits take up existing vacancies so extra costs are limited to the subsidy paid under the programme, where appropriate, and any additional training and development which may be needed. the cost of the latter cannot be readily identified.

I confirm for the period 2001–02 there are currently four new deal participants aged 25 plus employed in the Department for Education and Skills. The total cost to the public purse for this period in employer subsidies is approximately £1,440.00.

New Deal (Young People)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people are employed by the Department under the New Deal for Young People; and at what cost to public funds. [21325]

Estelle Morris: Information follows on the number of people currently employed by my Department under the new deal for young people. New deal recruits take up existing vacancies so extra costs are limited to the subsidy paid under the programme, where appropriate, and any additional training and development which may be needed. The cost of the latter cannot be readily identified.

I confirm there are 14 people currently employed by the Department for Education and Skills under the new deal for young people. The cost to the public purse in employer and training subsidies is approximately £30,660.

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 419W

Departmental Sickness Absence

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) when she expects to reply to the Question of 5 December, ref. 21335, from the hon. Member for Buckingham on sickness absence; [24754]

(2) how many days were lost owing to sickness absence in the Department in each of the last four years. [21335]

Estelle Morris: The overall sickness absence rate in the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) in each of the last four calendar years for which official figures are available was:

	Days per staff year
1999	11.0
1998	11.6
1997	12.6
1996	11.8

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 420W

The DfES is committed to reducing sickness absence in line with the targets agreed across Whitehall.

Civil Servants

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of each civil service grade in her Department is located in each region and nation of the UK; what the average salary is for each grade; and if she will make a statement. [6862]

Estelle Morris: The total numbers and proportions of each civil service grade within the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in each region and nation of the UK are shown in table A. The average salary for each grade in DfEs by region of the UK is shown in table B.

Table A: The total numbers and proportions of each civil service grade within the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in each region and nation of the UK

	Number of staff by grade level and region (full-time equivalent)
Government office region	All grades	SCS	Level 6/7	SEO/HEO level	EO level	AO/AA level
Permanent staff
London	1,963	86	298	699	466	414
North West	501	2	10	108	111	270
North East	508	2	28	124	147	207
Yorkshire and Humberside	1,084	22	126	435	228	273
Total permanent staff	4,056	112	462	1,366	952	1,164
Casual staff
London	53	—	2	2	11	38
North West	29	—	—	2	—	27
North East	32	—	—	—	—	32
Yorkshire and Humberside	54	—	—	—	4	50
Total casual staff	168	—	2	4	15	147
Total all staff	4,224	112	464	1,370	967	1,311

	Percentage of staff by grade level and region
Government office region	All grades	SCS	Level 6/7	SEO/HEO level	EO level	AO/AA level
Permanent staff
London	48	77	65	51	49	36
North West	12	2	2	8	12	23
North East	13	2	6	9	15	18
Yorkshire and Humberside	27	19	27	32	24	23
Total permanent staff	100	100	100	100	100	100
Casual staff
London	32	—	100	50	73	26
North West	17	—	—	50	—	18
North East	19	—	—	—	—	22
Yorkshire and Humberside	32	—	—	—	27	34
Total casual staff	100	—	100	100	100	100
Total all staff	100	100	100	100	100	100

Notes:

1. No staff are located in other regions or nations of the UK.

2. DfES has no industrial staff

19 Dec 2001 : Column: 421W

Table B: Average salary for each grade in DfES by region of the UK£

Government office region	All grades	SCS level	G6/7 level	SEO/HEO level	EO level	AO/AA level
Permanent
London	26,338	78,327	45,523	29,742	22,040	17,239
North West	17,493	72,250	37,928	28,031	18,379	15,403
North East	17,947	67,556	40,463	27,243	18,770	14,025
Yorkshire and Humberside	24,147	73,746	43,005	28,031	17,939	13,923
All regions	24,672	75,894	44,348	28,243	21,138	16,167
Casual
London	15,790	—	41,423	23,832	18,468	15,790
North West	12,720	—	—	27,435	—	12,720
North East	9,639	—	—	—	—	9,639
Yorkshire and Humberside	12,720	—	—	—	15,235	12,720
All regions	12,720	—	41,423	25,672	18,468	12,720

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