| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Refurbishment
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the refurbishment projects that (a) are in progress and (b) will start within the next six months; and what action is being taken to ensure that these will procure certified timber. [59767]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department has no refurbishment projects in progress and no future plans that will call for the use of timber.
Further Education
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the (a) capital costs and (b) additional revenue cost involved in the creation of new dedicated 16 to 19 provision in (i) Hackney, (ii) Islington and (iii) Lambeth. [60042]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 11 June 2002]: The information requested is estimated as follows:
| Project | Capital funding committed by LSC | Revenue funding committed by LSC |
|---|---|---|
| Hackney | 7,720,000 | 3,203,750 |
| Islington | 5,590,000 | 100,000 |
| Lambeth | 0 | 30,491 |
These figures relate to the Learning and Skills Council commitment at the time of reply to the new provision proposed after area inspections in the three boroughs.
Individual Learning Accounts
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representations she has received in each month since August 2001 about (a) non- payments or delayed payments to ILA providers, and (b) imminent bankruptcy, liquidation or administration of ILA providers. [60230]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 10 June 2002]: The information requested, covering the period 1 August 2001 to 31 May 2002, is set out in the table. The table shows contact with providers by telephone, and through letter and email. Several of the telephone contacts may relate to one provider. While all correspondence is logged not all telephone calls have been recorded. This was particularly the case just prior to the closure and in the immediate aftermath when the level of incoming calls to the Department was very high. In addition, covering the same period, some 70,000 calls have been logged by the ILA centre in Darlington. These calls are not categorised and therefore are not included.
25 Jun 2002 : Column 822W
| Telephone representations | Written representations | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Payment query | Potential receivership | Payment query | Potential receivership |
| 2001 | ||||
| August | — | — | 3 | — |
| September | — | — | — | — |
| October | 14 | — | 1 | 6 |
| November | 33 | — | 9 | 3 |
| December | 42 | 1 | 29 | 4 |
| 2002 | ||||
| January | 29 | 1 | 16 | — |
| February | 16 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| March | 40 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| April | 45 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| May | 19 | 5 | 23 | 2 |
Higher Education Students
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answers of 18 March 2002, Official Report, columns 113–14W, on higher education, if she will provide a further breakdown of the participation in higher education for each year group of those aged between 18 and 30, showing the percentage attending (a) full-time and (b) part-time and (i) degree and (ii) sub-degree courses of higher education. [60453]
Margaret Hodge [holding answer 10 June 2002]: The individual year of age entry rates for 2000–01 broken down by mode of study are shown in the table.
| Age(14) | Full-time entry rate(15) | Part-time entry rate(15) | Overall initial entry rate(15) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18(16) | 19.9 | 0.5 | 20.5 |
| 19 | 9.5 | 0.5 | 10.0 |
| 20 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 2.7 |
| 21 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| 22 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
| 23 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| 24 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| 25 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| 26 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| 27 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| 28 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| 29 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| 30 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Total(17) | 36.0 | 5.0 | 41.0 |
(14) Age as at 31 August 2000.
(15) HE entrants in 2000–01 as a percentage of separate age population; excludes entrants with previous HE experience and excludes courses of less than one year duration. The overall IER is the sum of the unrounded full-time and part-time initial entry rates, calculated using student records collected by HESA and LSC, and ONS population estimates. Note: as a result of the 2001 Census, the ONS are intending to release revised population estimates by early 2003. This could result in some changes to the figures shown in this table.
(16) Includes a small number of entrants aged 17.
(17) The individual rates are rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent. and so do not sum exactly to the totals which are rounded to the nearest whole number.
Breakdowns of the initial entry rate by level of undergraduate course are not available. For the purposes of the IER calculation no distinction is made between initial entrants to first degree or other undergraduate courses of at least one year duration.
Performance Targets
Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the performance
25 Jun 2002 : Column 823W
targets that her Department, its agencies and non- departmental public bodies are required to meet, apart from those set out in the public service agreements for 1999 to 2002 and 2001 to 2004; and if she will specify for each target (a) who sets it and (b) who monitors achievement against it. [60468]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department has a wide range of targets to deliver its agenda. High level targets are set out in "Delivering Results, A Strategy to 2006", available via the DfES website, www.dfes.gov.uk. These are cascaded through non-departmental public bodies, local education authorities and schools and reflected in their plans. Progress against targets is monitored by the Department, the Office for Standards in Education, the Adult Learning Inspectorate, and by non-departmental public bodies and local partners involved in the delivery of the education, training and skills agenda. The Department publishes information on performance against key targets in its departmental report, which is available from the House of Commons Library, and via the Department's website, www.dfes.gov.uk.
Computers
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are (a) in place and (b) under discussion in her Department in order to ensure compliance with the WEE Directive. [60739]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Energy at the Department for Trade and Industry, on 12 June 2002, Official Report, column 1266W.
Entertainment Costs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of the Department's 2001 staff Christmas party; and how many people attended. [61652]
Estelle Morris: My Department held no centrally organised Christmas parties for staff in 2001. Some individual divisions or teams will have organised their own events, but these would have been funded by contributions from the staff themselves.
Members of Parliament (Personal Data)
Mr. Forth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what information is held by her Department on each hon. Member in relation to (a) personal relationships, both current and past, (b) financial status and dealings,
25 Jun 2002 : Column 824W
(c) connections with companies and interest groups, (d) connections with Governments and (e) published works; and what was held in January 2002. [61834]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Ministers and officials in the Department for Education and Skills have access to published reference sources, as well as to the information about hon. Members made publicly available by the House authorities, for the purpose of parliamentary business.
Tuition Fees
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the levels of tuition fees are for overseas students attending universities in England and Wales in each year since 1996; and what concessions applied to students from (a) low income and (b) heavily indebted poor countries. [62027]
Margaret Hodge: The requested information is not held centrally. Universities are responsible for setting their own level of tuition fees for overseas students. Overseas fees are generally around £6,000 to £8,000 per year for an undergraduate course but can range from £4,000 to £17,000 per year depending on the institution, the level and the type of course. The UK Government and other UK organisations provide a number of scholarships and awards to help international students study in the UK. For example, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is providing up to 1,000 extra postgraduate and research places through the Chevening scholarship scheme. Universities also have flexibility in dealing with individual students' circumstances and waive or reduce fees where they consider appropriate: a number of universities are currently waiving overseas fees for students from Zimbabwe.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |