| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Higher Education
30. Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the difference in numbers of students entering higher education in (a) England and Wales and (b) Scotland in the last 12 months. [31430]
Margaret Hodge: The latest figures showing the number of students accepted for entry to undergraduate courses are given in the table. We welcome the continuing buoyant recruitment of students in England and Wales.
| Year of entry | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2001 | Percentage change | |
| Institutions in: | |||
| England and Wales | 271,100 | 286,600 | +5.7 |
| Scotland | 30,300 | 30,800 | +1.9 |
Source:
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
Education Maintenance Allowance
32. Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to extend education maintenance allowance. [31432]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We have no such plans at present. We will be taking decisions on any future extension of the scheme on the basis of the rigorous evaluation currently being conducted.
7 Feb 2002 : Column 1058W
A-levels
33. Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she has made an assessment of the impact on teachers and pupils of introducing a new A* grade at A-level. [31433]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: No. The Government currently have no plans to introduce an A* grade at A-level.
Secondary School Places (Eastbourne)
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures she will take to increase the number of secondary school places in Eastbourne. [31415]
Mr. Timms: It is for local education authorities to ensure that sufficient school places are available for the children in their area. Decisions about the organisation and supply of school places are made locally within a transparent decision-making framework. Where an authority can demonstrate a need for additional places it can approach my Department for funding through the annual capital allocation process.
Departmental Expenditure Limits
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on her Department's spending levels in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02, with reference to its expenditure limits. [33428]
Estelle Morris: For 2000–01 the comparison of provisional outturn against the departmental expenditure limit appears in the Public Expenditure 2000–01 Provisional Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243), published July 2001. Since July the outturn has increased by £56 million giving a final outturn of £17.705 billion, which is 93.2 per cent. of the total departmental expenditure limit (excluding welfare to work provision) of £18.998 billion.
For 2001–02 the initial departmental expenditure limit appears in the Departmental Report (Cm 5102), published March 2001, and subsequently changed following the Winter Supplementary Estimate (Cm 5335), published November 2001 to £20.224 billion. Comparison of spend to the departmental expenditure limits will be published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper in July.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the Department's underspend on its expenditure limits in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02. [33429]
Estelle Morris: For 2000–01 underspends were reported in the Public Expenditure 2000–01 Provisional Outturn White Paper (Cm 5243), published July 2000. The underspends were based on a comparison of provisional outturn against the departmental expenditure limit. Since July the outturn has increased by £56 million thereby reducing the published underspend accordingly.
For 2001–02 the initial departmental expenditure limit appears in the Departmental Report (Cm 5102), published March 2001, and subsequently changed following the Winter Supplementary Estimate (Cm 5335), published November 2001 to £20.224 billion. Comparison of spend to the departmental expenditure limits will be published in the Public Expenditure Outturn White Paper in July.
7 Feb 2002 : Column 1059W
IT Contracts
Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what has been the total expenditure of her Department on IT systems and support in each year from May 1997 to date; how many IT contracts have been let in each of those years; of the other main contracting party in each of those contracts, how many have been (a) companies whose registered office is in (i) England and Wales, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Northern Ireland and (b) foreign companies; and what are the names of the companies falling within category (a). [33680]
John Healey: The information that can be provided without disproportionate cost is as follows:
| Year | Number | Total expenditure (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 0 | 6,446,000.00 |
| 1998–99 | 5 | 8,000,000.00 |
| 1999–2000 | 3 | 8,400,000.00 |
| 2000–01 | 3 | 7,362,000.00 |
| 2001–02 | 1 | 5,975,000.00 |
| Total | 12 | 30,208,000.00 |
| Number | |
|---|---|
| England and Wales | 11 |
| Scotland | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | 0 |
| Foreign | 0 |
Names of companies, whose registered office is in the United Kingdom
- Axios Systems Ltd.
ISIS Ltd.
Peoplesoft UK Ltd.
NETG Ltd.
Hays Information Management
Electronic Data Systems Ltd.
British Telecommunications plc
CTP Information Management Ltd.
International Computers Ltd.
Xansa plc
Cap/Gemini/Ernst and Young
EduServ of University of Bath.
Accountancy Services
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost to her Department was for accountancy services in each of the last four years. [34176]
Estelle Morris: Information on the costs classified as accountancy services in the accounts of the Department for the last four years are as follows:
| Year | Value (£) |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 44,839 |
| 1999–2000 | 80,637 |
| 2000–01 | 702,133 |
| 2001–02(1) | 493,947 |
(1) Nine months to December 2001
7 Feb 2002 : Column 1060W
Union Learning Representatives
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will give a breakdown, by type of organisation, of the respondents to the consultation exercise on providing statutory rights for union learning representatives. [35051]
John Healey: There were 89 responses to the consultation. Of these:
- 31 (35 per cent.) were from trade unions or other worker representative organisations (16 being from employers);
24 (27 per cent.) were from trade unions or other worker representative bodies;
11 (12 per cent.) were from local learning and skills councils;
Nine (10 per cent.) were from other representative bodies (such as learning partnerships);
Nine (10 per cent.) were from individual union learning representatives;
Five (6 per cent.) were from individual employees.
State Schools Performance (A-levels)
Mr. Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment she has made of the performance of state schools in delivering A-levels and the impact of Learning and Skills Councils on this process. [31410]
Margaret Hodge: Ofsted's December 2001 report on the first year of Curriculum 2000 indicated that most state sixth-forms are successfully delivering A-level programmes. This confirms QCA's recent finding that the A-level reforms are now bedding down after some initial problems in 2001.
The Learning and Skills Council is working closely with LEAs and schools to develop a detailed framework for driving up standards. It takes over responsibility for school sixth-form funding from April this year.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |