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Part-time Workers

Mr. Laxton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average weekly hours of work for part-time workers were in 2001 in the United Kingdom. [67219]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Bob Laxton, dated 8 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the average hours worked by part-time workers in the United Kingdom. I am replying in his absence. (67219)

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimate of the average actual hours of part-time workers for the twelve month period ending December 2001 is 15.6 hours.

PISA 2000 Survey

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of pupils in the PISA 2000 Survey achieved the correct answer in the Reading Unit 1 section of the literacy test in (a) Question 1, (b) Question 2, (c) Question 3, (d) Question 4 and (e) Question 5. [67842]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 8 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many and what proportion of pupils in the PISA 2000 Survey achieved the correct answer in the Reading Unit 1 section of the literacy test in (a) Question 1, (b) Question 2, (c) Question 3, (d) Question 4 and (e) Question 5. I am replying in his absence. (67842)

The proportion of students who answered individual questions correctly is available for all items for each country in the Test Item Compendia available at http://pisaweb.acer.edu.au/oecd_pisa_data–s1.html

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who in (a) the Department for Education and Skills, (b) the Office of National Statistics and (c) other Departments was responsible for (i) devising the sample selection, (ii) making the sample selection and (iii) compiling the list of schools used in the PISA 2000 survey. [67843]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

8 Jul 2002 : Column 771W

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 8 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning who in (a) the Department for Education and Skills, (b) the Office of National Statistics and (c) other departments was responsible for (i) devising the sample selection, (ii) making the sample selection and (iii) compiling the list of schools used in the PISA 2000 survey. I am replying in his absence. (67843)

The sampling frame used in PISA and the sample design are described in Appendix A of Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study, published by ONS in May 2002.

A number of people were involved in devising the sample selection in consultation with the international sampling referees.

The report is available free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&Mo re=N

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 1 July 2002, Official Report, column 117W, whether schools were permitted to remove pupils from the selection made by PISA; and whether pupils were omitted from the list of students born in 1984 and on what basis. [67864]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Gibb, dated 8 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question pursuant to the answer given on 1st July, Official Report, column 117W, whether schools were permitted to remove pupils from the selection made by PISA; and whether any pupils were omitted from the list of students born in 1984 and, if so, on what basis. I am replying in his absence. (67864)

The protocols for selecting students within schools and for excluding students are described in Appendix A of Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study, published by ONS in May 2002.

The report is available free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?v1nk=8169&Mo re=N

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the questions asked in the follow-up sessions that were held for pupils taking the PISA 2000 tests were the same as those in the original tests. [67844]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Gibb, dated 8 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking if the questions asked in the follow-up sessions that were held for pupils taking the PISA 2000 tests were the same as those in the original tests. I am replying in his absence. (67844)

The circumstances under which students were assessed in a follow-up session and the construction of the PISA test are described in Section A.3 and 1.6 of Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study, published by ONS in May 2002.

8 Jul 2002 : Column 772W

The tests used in the follow-up sessions were the same as those in the original testing session. The PISA test contained over 200 items in total, equivalent to 7 hours of testing time. Not all students were given the same questions. Each student was given one of nine different test booklets with different combinations of items. The tests were administered by test administrators who were independent of the school. Tests were brought to the school by the administrator on the day of testing and removed after testing. Only 3% of students were assessed in a follow-up session.

The report is available free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?v1nk=8169&More=N

Devolution

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the EU Insurance Committee is next due to meet; whether representatives of the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if he will make a statement. [68601]

Ruth Kelly: The EU Insurance Committee is due to next meet on 26 and 27 November 2002.

The UK is represented by an official from HM Treasury and a representative from the Financial Services Authority. As financial regulation is not a devolved matter, representatives of the Scottish Executive have not attended the committee.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the EU Banking Advisory Committee is next due to meet; whether representatives of the Scottish Executive (a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if he will make a statement. [68604]

Ruth Kelly: The EU Banking Advisory Committee is due to meet next on 9 October 2002.

The UK is represented by an official from HM Treasury and two from the Financial Services Authority. As financial regulation is not a devolved matter, representatives of the Scottish Executive have not attended the committee.

Adoptions

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many adoptions have been completed in each of the last five years. [67161]

Ruth Kelly: The answer requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 8 July 2002:

The Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent question on the number of adoptions completed in each of the last five years. I am replying in his absence. (67161)

The information requested is given in the table.

Number of adoptions in England and Wales in each of the last five years

	Number of adoptions
1997	5,212
1998	4,617
1999	4,988
2000	5,036
2001	5,131

8 Jul 2002 : Column 773W

Statistics

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the statistics that are collected by his Department by English parliamentary constituency; and if he will make a statement. [67099]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. David Laws, dated 8 July 2002:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on which statistics are collected by English Parliamentary Constituency. I am replying in his absence. (67099)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects a wide range of statistics. However, they are not collected at Parliamentary Constituency level for a number of reasons. In particular, most of the statistics collected at a local level are based on administrative areas such as local authorities, and these do not always share boundaries with Parliamentary Constituencies.

Members of the Government Statistical Service (GSS) in all Government Departments provide a statistical service to the House of Commons Library.

The House of Commons Library provides a tailored service for MP's. Statistics that can often be provided at Parliamentary Constituency level include economic status (employment, unemployment and inactivity), claimant count, employee jobs, average earnings and Census data. Also, many statistics that are available at a lower level can generally be aggregated to Parliamentary Constituency level. This includes the increasing range of statistics at ward level becoming available through ONS's Neighbourhood Statistics Service (www.statistics.gov.uk/ neighbourhood).

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