---

29 Oct 2003 : Column 296W—continued

Soft Key Skills

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in formulating viable measures for the attainment by pupils of soft key skills. [134980]

Mr. Miliband: The current national specifications for the key skills of Working with Others, Problem Solving and Improving Own Learning and Performance have been in use since September 2000.

29 Oct 2003 : Column 297W

Specialist Schools

Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many specialist schools have failed to have their status renewed. [134935]

Mr. Miliband: Since the Specialist Schools Programme began in 1997 some 39 specialist schools have failed to have their status renewed.

Student Complaints Adjudicator

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the appointment of an independent Student Complaints Adjudicator and the establishment of an office to service this function. [134122]

Alan Johnson: The higher education sector has established the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) to consider cases which students have been unable to resolve within their higher education institutions. The OIA was incorporated as a company on 7 July 2003. The Board of Directors have appointed Dame Ruth Deech as the Independent Adjudicator and Michael Reddy as Deputy Adjudicator and are currently in the process of recruiting other staff, establishing the office and setting up systems. The OIA expects to be able to receive cases early in 2004. The Government fully supports the higher education sector in providing students with a fair, open and transparent means of redress when things go wrong.

Thameside College

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects the Learning and Skills Council inquiry into Thameside College to be completed; if he will make a statement on the outcome when it is completed; and what financial provision he has made to deal with its outcome. [133900]

Alan Johnson: The Secretary of State for Education and Skills has received a formal complaint alleging breaches of corporate governance and management and financial irregularities at Thameside College. An

29 Oct 2003 : Column 298W

investigation into these allegations has been completed. The report of the investigation is now being written and will be considered and decisions based on its findings made when it is received. The findings of the investigation and decisions taken will determine whether a statement is made. Any financial implications resulting from the investigation and decisions will be dealt with by the Learning and Skills Council.

Tuition Fees

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether 100 per cent. of the tuition fee will be paid to higher education institutions in the academic year for which it is charged. [134060]

Alan Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 20 October 2003, Official Report, column 438W, where I stated that the Government will pay the tuition fee to the higher education institution during the academic year for which it is charged.

University Funding

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportions of income from university top-up fees are expected to fund (a) postgraduate research and (b) undergraduate teaching. [134322]

Alan Johnson: These will be matters for Higher Education Institutions to decide for themselves.

University Medical Schools

Mr. Clapham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2003, Official Report, column 502W, on university medical schools, to the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison), if he will identify the sum for additional funding by each university. [135027]

Alan Johnson: No. The sum referred to was allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) which does not, as a matter of policy, publish sensitive student data at course level for individual institutions.

29 Oct 2003 : Column 299W

WORK AND PENSIONS

Liability Insurance (Companies)

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action he is taking to prevent companies from trading without appropriate liability insurance; and if he will make a statement. [134233]

Mr. Browne: Although compliance levels remain high, all non-compliance is serious. Uninsured companies reduce the compensation available to their employees; transfer the cost of accidents to the taxpayer; and have an unlawful competitive advantage over their legitimate competitors.

The Department is taking a number of actions to re-inforce compliance in the second stage of its review of Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI). These include developing an enforcement database and issuing supplementary guidance on procurement in the public sector to make the confirmation of contractor and subcontractor compliance a more explicit part of the tendering process.

We will report in Autumn on the progress that has been made and any further steps we intend to take.

Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) companies and (b) individuals have been prosecuted for trading without appropriate liability insurance in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [134234]

Mr. Browne: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcing Employers' Liability Compulsory Insurance (ELCI).

Over the past five years HSE has prosecuted 18 individuals, 14 companies and 2 partnerships for trading without liability insurance. The breakdown for each operational year is as follows:

	Individuals	Companies	Partnerships
1998–99	0	1	0
1999–2000	4	0	0
2000–01	4	0	0
2001–02	4	6	2
2002–03	5	4	0
Total	17	11	02	Grand Total=30

For the period 1 April to 30 September 2003 the breakdown is as follows:

Individuals	Companies	Partnerships
1	3	0

29 Oct 2003 : Column 300W

Asbestos Surveyors

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many asbestos surveyors are registered in the United Kingdom. [134186]

Mr. Browne: The United Kingdom Accreditation Service has accredited 50 organisations that carry out inspections for asbestos in buildings. A further 40 organisations have applied for accreditation. Only the number of organisations accredited is known not the number of asbestos inspectors they employ.

Council Tax Benefit

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the tenure status of pensioners who are entitled to council tax benefit but do not receive it. [135222]

Mr. Pond: Council Tax Benefit is administered by over 400 local authorities, each of which is required by legislation to take appropriate steps to ensure that people with a potential entitlement to Council Tax Benefit are made aware of the help available.

Information is also contained in leaflet GL17 "Help with your Council Tax Benefit" as well as various other information leaflets and posters produced by the Department.

The information is in the table.

Estimated tenure status of pensioners entitled to but not in receipt of Council Tax Benefit in 2000–01Benefits Estimates of Take-Up

Tenure type	Proportion (per cent.)
Local Authority tenants	11
Private renters	14
Owner-occupiers	75
Total	100

Notes:

1. "Private renters" includes pensioners renting accommodation from Registered Social Landlords.

2. Estimates cover the pensioners in the private household population of Great Britain. The data source is the Family Resources Survey.

3. A pensioner is defined as either a single person aged at least 60 years old or, if a couple, both will be termed pensioners if one is aged at least 60 years old.

4. This analysis should be treated with caution as there are possible sources of error, such as misidentification in modelling entitlement to Council Tax Benefit, misreporting of benefit receipt, and inaccuracies in grossing-up estimates from sample data which have not been corrected for.

Source:

Data underlying the statistics presented in the DWP series "Income Related Benefits Estimates of TakepUP".

Health and Safety Executive

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was to the Health and Safety Executive in 2002–03 of employing casual staff, broken down by region; and when this practice will be terminated and only permanent staff employed. [132538]

Mr. Browne: During 2002–03, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) employed both casual and agency staff. We do not have details of the costs broken down

29 Oct 2003 : Column 301W

by specific regions. The costs shown are the only breakdown available. A further breakdown could be made available only at disproportionate costs.

	Annual costs by region (£)
Agency staff
Bootle	660,844
London	418,180
Nationally	817,514
Sub total	1,896,538
Casual staff
Bootle	35,784
London	37,059
Nationally	18,288
Sub total	91,131
Agency and casual staff total	1,987,669

HSE has no plans to end the practice of using temporary staff. These contracts provide essential short-term cover for such events as maternity/sick cover, projects or gaps prior to recruitment. The use of temporary staff is carefully monitored to ensure that these are used only in appropriate circumstances.

Andrew Bennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the basis is of his policy that the Field Operations Division of the Health and Safety Executive no longer visit companies where an adverse insurance report indicating defects in plant and equipment has been received. [132541]

Mr. Browne: The Field Operations Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive has never had a policy to visit companies where an adverse inspection report has been received. Until recently they had an administrative procedure to write to companies asking them to confirm that action had been taken. This procedure, which involved 10 full time staff equivalents, added little or no value as companies had almost invariably acted on the report. The procedure was stopped in April 2003 and the administrative staff time applied to work more directly supporting inspectors.

---