| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
3 Jun 2003 : Column 219W—continued
Music Standards Fund
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement about the (a) money allocated under and (b) students benefiting from the Music Standards Fund and the Music and Dance Scheme in (i) the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, (ii) Teesside and (iii) the Government Office north east region. [115535]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested relating to the Music and Dance Scheme (MDS) is not available centrally. MDS provision in the north east is known to be weak, which is why the Department is helping to pilot a new weekend music school at The Sage, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear to benefit talented children in the region.
The Music Standards Fund can be spent in any way which enhances opportunities for pupils to access musical education of high quality, so potentially all students in an area benefit from its provision. The funds allocated to each area requested are as follows.
| LEA/ Area/Region | MSF Allocation 2003–04 |
|---|---|
| Redcar and Cleveland LEA | (32)1,336,700 |
| Middlesbrough LEA | (32)1,366,700 |
| Teeside Area | 1,513,700 |
| Government Office North East | 4,287,016 |
(32) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency covers both Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough LEAs. Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Stockton on Tees LEAs submitted a joint MSF bid as the Tees Valley Music Project and this allocation covers all four LEAs.
National Professional Qualification for Headship
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of new entrants to the NPQH leadership qualifications are (a) from ethnic minorities, (b) have disabilities and (c) are women; and what the percentages are in the workforce as a whole. [115590]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: 63 per cent. of new entrants to the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) are women. Information about ethnicity and disability is provided on a voluntary basis, but of those who supplied this information, 3 per cent. are from ethnic minorities and 1 per cent. consider themselves disabled within the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
In the workforce as a whole, 68.7 per cent. of teachers are women. Data on ethnic minorities and disabilities are not held centrally.
Office of Fair Access
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the milestones for assessing progress in widening participation referred to on
3 Jun 2003 : Column 220W
page 19 of Widening Participation in Higher Education are which he intends to set out in guidance to the Office of Fair Access for it to apply to individual universities; and whether admissions from (a) type of schools and (b) family social class are to play a part in such milestones. [115686]
Margaret Hodge: The milestones used in the access agreement will be determined by each institution and not by my RHF. It will be for each institution to decide on the milestones that are appropriate to its circumstances. As we have explained in 'Widening Participation in Higher Education', no single indicator can give a rounded view of progress towards widening participation and the institution will be able to draw on a range of data.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to assess the compatibility of the statement of principles of the Office of Fair Access with the European Convention on Human Rights, with special reference to the right to education. [115687]
Margaret Hodge: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State is confident that the proposal to create the Office for Fair Access is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ofsted
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions have taken place between his Department and Ofsted concerning media releases by Ofsted prior to their issue; whether his Department approves Ofsted media releases prior to issue; and if he will make a statement. [114463]
Mr. Miliband: Ofsted does not clear media releases with the Department. The Department is often consulted about the timing of media events but not for the purposes of clearance. Ofsted is a separate non-Ministerial department and decisions about those releases are therefore a matter for HM Chief Inspector.
Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions have taken place between his Department and Ofsted concerning the report by the Adult Learning Inspectorate on College and Area Wide Inspections; whether his Department approved the report prior to publication; and if he will make a statement. [114464]
Margaret Hodge: The College and Area-wide Inspections Report is a joint report from Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate. Ofsted informed my Department of the content of the report prior to publication. Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate reports are independent and not subject to the approval of my Department.
There is a considerable amount of useful detail in the report, much of which is in line with previous reports from Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate.
The report recognises there is much good provision in colleges, 90 per cent. of lessons are assessed as satisfactory or better. It also highlights important areas where performance needs to improve.
3 Jun 2003 : Column 221W
This information has been used in the design of our reform programme set out in the document 'Success for All' published in November 2002. These reforms are backed by substantial additional funding for colleges. The Success for All priorities are: improving the responsiveness and quality of provision, promoting excellence in teaching and learning, developing leaders, teachers, trainers and support staff and developing a new framework for quality and success.
Part-time Students
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what steps he is taking to ensure parity of access to leading research-intensive higher education institutions between part-time students and undergraduates and postgraduates; [113215]
- (2) what action he is taking to ensure that part-time students have access to the full range of academic programmes available to their full-time equivalents. [113459]
Margaret Hodge: The distribution of places between full and part-time study is not planned centrally. We encourage flexible and part-time provision, and have introduced the foundation degree, which is designed to be flexible, and which has had very good take-up among part-time students. In the White Paper we set out proposals to improve the financial support for part-time students including providing fee support for those on low incomes, a new means tested grant to help with the costs faced by the students and support for childcare costs. We have also introduced a range of measures to encourage wider participation more generally, including at postgraduate level.
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance he will give to the proposed Office for Fair Access to ensure that part-time students are not disadvantaged in access to higher education. [113228]
Margaret Hodge: The remit of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) will be restricted to matters relating to those students whose fees are subject to statutory limits. Part-time students will therefore fall outside the remit of OFFA. However, we strongly encourage institutions to widen access and it will be open to universities to include in the access agreements they submit to OFFA measures which particularly address the needs of part-time students.
Dr. Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how he will monitor the relative effects of his proposals for higher education reform upon (a) part-time students and (b) full-time students, with particular reference to (i) entitlement and access to welfare and (ii) support services while on their courses. [113230]
Margaret Hodge: We will continue to monitor the effect of changes in student support policy on students' entitlement to welfare benefits including discussions at official level with the Department for Work and Pensions. However, only a minority of students are eligible for benefits. We do not expect major changes in benefit levels for the minority of part-time students currently eligible as a result of our improved package of support for part-time students from 2004–05. We will
3 Jun 2003 : Column 222W
monitor the impact of the Higher Education Grant for the small numbers of full-time students, largely lone parents and the disabled, who receive housing benefit and, in some cases, income support.
It is important that student services in higher education institutions develop in order to support a more diverse student population as we widen access. Institutions are however responsible for deciding what services they need to provide and how best to deliver them in light of their circumstances and those of their students. One measure of their success is the rate of student retention. HEFCE will be monitoring the performance of individual institutions in this area through the continued publication of performance indicators and will be working with institutions to bear down on non-completion.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |