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14 Apr 2003 : Column 557W—continued

Investors in People

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority have Investors in People status. [104957]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.

Learners Lifeline Bids

Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions have takes place between the Local Learning and Skills Council and the South Buckinghamshire 14 to 19 Consortium in relation to a Learners Lifeline bid; and if he will make a statement. [108119]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 8 April 2003]: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. However, the South Buckinghamshire 14 to 19 Consortium has recently submitted an expression of interest to the Department to be a 14 to 19 pathfinder in 2003–04. This includes, among other things, the creation of individual 'Learners Lifeline' packages to help retain in education and training those young people in danger of dropping out, and to promote inclusion. The expression of interest was submitted with the support and agreement of, among others, the Executive Director of the Local Learning and Skills Council.

14 Apr 2003 : Column 558W

Learning and Skills Councils

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many and what percentage of members of (a) each local learning and skills council and (b) the National Learning and Skills Council declare a record of political activity, broken down by party. [80990]

Margaret Hodge: Pursuant to my answer on 28 November, Official Report columns 397W, 398W and 399W, while attempting to make plain that appointments to the LSC are made through fair and open competition, and that we seek to attract applications from individuals with a wide range of appropriate experience, I said that this was regardless of any political affiliation they may have. This should in fact have read "regardless of any political activity that they may have undertaken".

Level 2 and 3 Qualifications

Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 24 March, Official Report, column 37W, what proportion of (a) Level 2 and (b) Level 3 qualifications achieved in (i) schools and (ii) sixth form colleges in the last year were (A) vocational and (B) academic. [108311]

Mr. Miliband: Tables 1 and 2 as follows show the numbers and proportions of academic and vocational awards made at level 2 and 3 during the 2000–01 academic year. The data are derived from two sources: academic awards data from the Secondary School and College Performance Tables database and vocational awards data from National Information System for Vocational Qualifications (NISVQ)1. Awards coverage is limited to England only.

Table 1: Numbers and Proportions of Level 2 Awards by centre type and academic/vocational split 2000–01

Centre type	Academic	Vocational	Total
School	300,055	21,813	321,868
	93%	7%	100%
Sixth Form College	76	4,902	4,978
	2%	98%	100%

Source:

Secondary School and College Performance Tables database and NISVQ

Note:

1. NISVQ received information on around 92 per cent. of all NVQs/SVQs awarded in 2000–01

Table 2: Numbers and Proportions of Level 3 awards by centre type and academic/vocational split 2000–2001

Centre type	Academic	Vocational	Total
School	192,251	12,366	205,317
	94%	6%	100%
Sixth Form College	53,698	6,739	60,437
	89%	11%	100%

Source:

Secondary School and College Performance Tables database and NISVQ

Note:

1. NISVQ received information on around 92 per cent. of all NVQs awarded in 2000–01

14 Apr 2003 : Column 559W

Modern Languages

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) students enrolled on modern languages degrees and (b) young people entered higher education in each year since 1995. [99627]

Margaret Hodge: The available information is given in the table.

Entrants⁽⁴⁸⁾aged under 21 to first degree courses HEIs in the UK

Academic year	Modern language courses	All first degree courses
1995–96	4,258	215,395
1996–97	4,114	223,661
1997–98	4,154	241,760
1998–99	3,552	241,439
1999–2000	3,431	244,660
2000–01	3,250	246,104
2001–02	3,030	255,357

⁽⁴⁸⁾ Home and overseas students on full-time and part-time courses. Excludes combined courses which may include modules in modern language.

Press Office

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people are employed in his Department's press office; and how many were employed on 2 May 1997. [108404]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: There were 23.5 people employed within the Department's Press Office on 1 April 2003 and 20.5 on 2 May 1997.

Primary Schools

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary schools in (a) Kent and (b) Sittingbourne and Sheppey have school populations of 100 or less. [108913]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 11 April 2003]: Data collected in January 2002 shows that the number of maintained primary schools in Kent that have a school population of 100 or less is 60. The corresponding figure for Sittingbourne and Sheppey parliamentary constituency is three.

Private Hire Vehicles

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements his Department makes for the regulation of private hire vehicle companies employed by local authorities to transport (a) adults and (b) children with (i) autism and (ii) other disabilities. [105208]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson) on 31 March 2003, Official Report, column 517W.

Property Portfolio

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated value is of the property portfolio held by his Department. [108364]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The estimated value of the property portfolio for my Department is as follows:

14 Apr 2003 : Column 560W

Current net book value of Freehold property—£56,882,363.

Pupil Identification Number

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the authorised uses of the pupil identification number are; whether the use of the pupil identification number for non-education purposes is permitted; if he will bring forward legislation to prevent the use of the number for non-education purposes; and if he will make a statement. [104519]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The purpose of the "unique pupil number" (or UPN) is to facilitate the collation of information about pupils accumulated over the course of their school career and so to create profiles of their progress. These profiles are built up from the Pupil Level Annual Schools Census (PLASC) showing the whereabouts and status of the pupil each January in terms of (for example) the school they were attending, their special educational needs, eligibility for free school meals and ethnic group, plus information obtained separately from schools, marking agencies and exam boards on their results in Key Stage assessments and public examinations. The profiles are stored in a National Pupil Database.

A small number of technical staff engaged in collating the pupil level data and creating the profiles have access to pupils' UPNs and names. Analysts in the Department and partner agencies (Ofsted, QCA and LSC) have access to anonymised profiles for use for statistical purposes only. LEAs, and through them schools, can access the profiles of their own pupils (including UPNs and names in this case) in order to fill gaps in their own data which have arisen through information being lost as pupils move from school to school.

Analysis of the profiles in the national database provides schools, LEAs, the Department and its partners with major new information to support standards raising and other policies such as ethnic monitoring. Schools are also helped to make appropriate provision for their pupils by being able to obtain from the national database more complete information about them.

The introduction of UPNs in 1999 was preceded by extensive discussions with the then Data Protection Registrar. The system is operated in a manner agreed with her in order to minimise any threat to personal privacy which might be posed if access to and use of UPNs and the National Pupil Database were not properly controlled.

The use of UPNs for non-education purposes is not permitted. There is no evidence that any agencies or organisations have attempted to use UPNs improperly for non-education purposes. If such evidence began to emerge, powers exist under the Data Protection Act 1998 which would enable the Department to set out in a Parliamentary order the permitted uses of UPNs, thereby rendering their use for any other purpose illegal.

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