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Early-years Premises

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many early years settings have been (a) required and (b) recommended to upgrade their premises as a result of OFSTED inspections. [93432]

Mr. Miliband: This is a matter for the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). The HM Chief Inspector for Schools, David Bell will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when young people of Redcar and Cleveland Borough will be able to apply for education maintenance allowances. [96915]

Margaret Hodge: The national Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme will be available from September 2004 across the whole of England.

In areas such as Redcar and Cleveland, which were not part of the pilot scheme, the first tranche of eligible students will be those who reach the compulsory school leaving age in the 2003–04 academic year.

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost of the Education Maintenance Allowance in the next (a) year and (b) three years. [95652]

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Margaret Hodge [holding answer 7 February 2003]: The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme will continue to be available in 56 local education authority pilot areas for 2003–04 and planned expenditure for this year is £220.5 million. EMAs will be made available across the whole of England from September 2004 and funding allocated in the latest spending review settlement is £300.5 million for 2004–05 and £470.5 million for 2005–06. The final resources required will depend on the details agreed for the national scheme.

Higher Education

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his target to increase participation in higher education (a) towards and (b) to 50 per cent. of those aged 18 to 30. [94324]

Margaret Hodge: The target is to increase participation in higher education towards 50 per cent. of those aged 18 to 30-years-old by 2010, as measured by the Initial Entry Rate figure.

This measure is based on adding up the percentages of the population in each year group, between the ages of 18 and 30, who enter higher education for the first time.

This target was one of the Public Service Agreements set out during Spending Review 2000 and was confirmed in Spending Review 2002.

St. Bees Village Primary School

Dr. Jack Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason restrictions have recently been placed on the number of hours the St Bees Village Primary School After School Club is allowed to open; who took this decision; on what authority it was based; and if he will make a statement. [94284]

Mr. Miliband : In England, regulation of day care for children under the age of eight is the responsibility of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Under Part XA of the Children Act 1989, an after school club must be registered with Ofsted, if care is provided for more than two hours in any day and for more than five days in a year. Schools are exempted from these requirements but there are circumstances in which these exemptions do not apply.

As the regulatory arrangements in this case are a matter for Ofsted, their HM Chief Inspector for Schools, David Bell, will write to my right hon. Friend and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Student Grants

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the 30 per cent. of students who it is estimated in the White Paper The Future of Higher Education will qualify for a full grant will be going into full-time higher education at the age of 18. [97170]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 11 January 2003]: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon.

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Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on 6 February 2003, Official Report, column 358w.

Teaching Quality Academy

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the consultation period on the establishment of the teaching quality academy will end. [94071]

Margaret Hodge: Consultation is being carried out simultaneously by Universities UK (UUK), the Standing Conference of Principles (SCOP), the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE) and the Higher Education Staff Development Agency (HESDA). It will be completed by the end of March.

Universities' Revenue

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated total extra revenue is that universities will receive per year following the introduction of deferred top up fees. [96277]

Margaret Hodge: The amount of fee income raised when the new arrangements are introduced will depend on which institutions decide to charge variable fees and at what level, together with the number of students taking those courses.

University Tuition Fees

Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will estimate the costs of his plans to provide free tuition to students from low-income families. [94753]

Margaret Hodge: For 2002–03, it is costing the Government £477 million to provide tuition fee remission for full-time home and EU students from low-income families at higher education institutions in England and Wales. We intend to continue the present level of fee remission support for students from low-income families.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Democratic Republic of Congo

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo on implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1457 in respect of ending illegal activities relating to conflict diamonds; and if he will make a statement. [96534]

Mr. Rammell: Officials have had regular contact with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo regarding implementation of the Kimberley Process certification scheme to regulate the international trade in rough diamonds. The DRC is now a participant in the scheme, which we see as the most effective way of dealing with the illicit trade in diamonds—particularly conflict diamonds.

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The scheme came into force on 1 January 2003 and the Government of the DRC has reported a substantial increase in the volume of diamonds being channelled through legitimate sources since this date. Successful implementation of the scheme in the DRC is clearly linked to the current peace process.

We will continue to encourage the DRC and others to implement in full. Together with the European Commission, we stand ready to offer technical assistance to achieve that, if asked.

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence he has received from the United Nations relating to the UN report on illegal resource exploitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; what additional investigations in the United Kingdom have been or will be undertaken; and if he will make a statement. [96535]

Mr. Rammell: We take seriously the allegations in the UN Expert Panel report against 12 UK companies. Where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing HMG will consider taking appropriate action. We asked for further information from the UN Expert Panel in November 2002 regarding the allegations. However, the Panel's mandate expired when it submitted its report (i.e. on 18 October 2002) and it was therefore unable to re-start work to produce the information requested until a new mandate had been granted. This was given by UN Security Council Resolution 1457 of 24 January. We are pressing the Panel to provide the information as soon as possible.

Sanctions

Mr. Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what United Nations, European Union, African Union and other international mechanisms are in place to monitor and enforce sanctions against (a) the Democratic Republic of Congo and (b) Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement. [96536]

Mr. Rammell: There is an EU arms embargo against the Democratic Republic of Congo, last revised by Common Position 2002/829/CFSP of 21 October 2002.

The EU adopted Common Position 2002/145/CFSP on 18 February 2002 introducing targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe. These measures include an arms embargo, an embargo against items that could be used for internal repression, a travel ban and an asset freeze. These last two measures are targeted against 79 members of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

It is the responsibility of each EU Member State to ensure that they enforce each of these sanctions regimes.

Eritrea/Ethiopia

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Eritrea on following a peaceful settlement to territorial disputes with Ethiopia. [97049]

Mr. Rammell: The European Union resumed the political dialogue with Eritrea under the Cotonou agreement with the signing of a Country Strategy Paper on 14 November 2002. Within this framework, we have

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had discussions with the Government of Eritrea to discuss the implementation of the 12 December 2000 peace agreement signed in Algiers between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Although there are difficult issues remaining, both sides have given clear assurances that they remain committed to the peace process.

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