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22 May 2003 : Column 1004W—continued
Mental Health
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of his staff have taken sick leave due to mental health problems in the last year. [111987]
Mr. Charles Clarke: My Department is committed to managing sickness absences effectively and to maintain its efforts to try and meet the 2003 target for reduced sickness absence as set out in its Service Delivery Agreement.
My Department also confirms its legal obligation to provide a safe working environment for employees and remains committed to meeting the targets for reducing the number of working days lost due to work related injuries and illness set out in the Government's
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Revitalising Health and Safety initiative. These have been incorporated into the Departmental Health and Safety Policy statement.
In the calendar year 2002, 279 staff in DfEs took sick leave due to anxiety, depression, stress and other mental illness.
Part-time Students
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action the Government are taking to ensure an easy interface for part-time learners between higher education and (a) further education, (b) community-based learning and (c) work-based learning. [R] [113227]
Margaret Hodge: We are working with the Learning and Skills Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for England to streamline the funding route for institutions that deliver both further and higher education. This should allow these institutions to respond more flexibly to the needs of part-time students wishing to progress from further education to higher education.
The vast majority of community-based learning through Adult and Community Learning is part-time and provides mainly first rung provision to encourage adults into further learning, which may lead into higher education.
We are also supporting and promoting Advanced Modern Apprenticeships as a progression route into higher education, and in particular to Foundation Degrees. These can be undertaken in a variety of ways, including part-time and distance learning, while the students remain in employment.
Positive Activities for Young People
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the role of a personal adviser in dealing with young people to be targeted within the Positive Activities for Young People scheme. [114202]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for Education and Skills is funding 435 (full-time equivalent) adviser posts within the Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) scheme. The role of these advisers will be to provide support to an agreed list of hardest to help young people. They will work to remove barriers to young people's participation in PAYP during the school holidays, to build relationships with them and to support the young people back to education, training or employment at the end of the holiday periods.
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the number of young people classed as at risk for the purposes of being targeted for the Positive Activities for Young People scheme. [114206]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: A minimum of 22,000 full-time places will be provided (a full-time place being from 12 noon to 9 pm), with a minimum of 6,200 receiving dedicated support from Connexions Personal Adviser Key
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Workers. These key workers will support an agreed list of hard to help young people to remove barriers to participation, to build relationships, to help the young people access the most suitable provision and to support them back into education or training at the end of holiday periods. These young people will be identified both by referral agencies and by targeting areas of geographical disadvantage. We expect that the programme will provide places for a wider group of young people in each community than those requiring key worker support.
Schools Funding
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the funding of schools in Shropshire. [114997]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The increase in Education Formula Spending Share for Shropshire for 2003–04 was 7.3 per cent. I welcome the council's decision to pass on over 107 per cent. of the increase in schools funding to its schools budget, which resulted in an increase in the LEA's schools budget of 10.2 per cent.
Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what total amount of capital funding was allocated to schools in Brighton and Hove in each year since 1996–97. [114695]
Mr. Miliband: The following table the sets out the capital allocations made to Brighton and Hove local education authority and its schools from 1997–98 to 2003–04. Funding data prior to 1997–9.8 were not collected on a comparable basis.
| Capital allocations | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 3,926 |
| 1998–99 | 3,698 |
| 1999–2000 | 5,636 |
| 2000–01 | 7,661 |
| 2001–02 | (17)28,614 |
| 2002–03 | 5,487 |
| 2003–04 | 7,573 |
(17) Includes £24.8 million of PH credits
Science
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the relevance of (a) materials science and (b) engineering to the development of scientific and technological understanding in AS and A level students. [114651]
Mr. Miliband: Engineering and materials science do have the potential to contribute to the technological understanding of advanced level students. Vocational A levels (AVCEs) are available in engineering and can include units in application of new technology, applied science and engineering processes. Materials science is taken into account when developing criteria for engineering and science based subjects for AS/A level students. For example, the Nuffield GCE A level chemistry specification includes a special studies
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optional unit on chemical engineering and materials science. The Vocational A levels in engineering and in science have optional units addressing various aspects of materials science. These and other awards help promote an understanding of science and its applications in various technological industries.
Secondments
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 6 May 2003, Official Report, column 646W, if he will list the organisations to which civil servants in his Department have been seconded since 1998 in (a) the private sector, (b) NGOs and (c) other, stating in each case (i) the dates of the secondments, (ii) the number of civil servants seconded to that organisation and (iii) their grade. [114174]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.
Student Debt and Retention Rates
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he plans to introduce to (a) address concerns about student debt and (b) improve retention rates in higher education. [108272]
Margaret Hodge: Our White Paper "The future of higher education" proposes a number of measures which address concerns about student debt, particularly for students from low income families. In particular, from 2004/05 around 30 per cent. of students will benefit in full from the new HE Grant of £1,000 per year and a further number will receive a proportion of £1,000. The grant will be additional to the loan but students can choose to reduce their loan take up, including costly commercial loans, and hence their future debt.
From 2006/07 the abolition of the requirement to pay upfront fees and new university bursary schemes to support lower income students will also help reduce the need to borrow. The Government will continue to means test the first £1,100 contribution to fees; at present only 40 per cent. of students pay the full contribution. In 2001/02, 43 per cent. of students received a full grant to cover tuition costs and 16 per cent. received a partial grant, institutions that wish to charge higher, variable fees will be required to enter into an access agreement with the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). The access agreement will cover proposals to extend the bursaries and other financial arrangements they will offer, such as subsidised accommodation, travel, books, study aids etc.
Student loans will continue to be offered at highly subsidised rates. Unlike commercial debt or mortgage there is no interest charged other than inflation. From 2005 the threshold at which students start to pay back will be raised from £10,000 to £15,000, helping new graduates and lower earners. This makes debt repayments lower and more affordable and repayments will continue to be income contingent. The new Student
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Income and Expenditure Survey for 2002/03, currently being undertaken, will give authoritative information about students' cost of living and anticipated debt.
We have asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to bear down on non-completion. To that end, HEFCE are funding Action on Access to highlight and disseminate good practice in student retention. Further measures planned by HEFCE to improve retention and increase information to potential students include:
- 1. Asking Action on Access to establish a target group of institutions and work specifically with them to improve their retention rates.
2. Bringing together of Aimhigher: Partnerships for Progression and Excellence Challenge under Aimhigher to create a more unified message for potential students.
3. Ensuring that additional relevant information is put on the Higher Education and Research Opportunities (HERO) website to assist potential students make informed decisions.
4. Working with the Department and other partners to establish a new HE Students Portal (HESP) which will provide a dedicated information service to students, their parents and advisers.
The HEFCE have allocated £265 million to institutions in 2003–04 for widening access and improving retention. This figure recognises the additional costs of supporting students from non-traditional backgrounds and thereby increases the likelihood that they will complete their courses successfully. We expect HEFCE to come forward with further proposals for 2004/05 on how they intend to implement White Paper proposals on funding HEIs who are not making progress on improving completion rates.
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