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19 Nov 2003 : Column 1007Wcontinued
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to introduce a licensed qualification for (a) bricklayers and (b) hairdressers; and if he will make a statement. [138960]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We have no plans to introduce licensed qualifications for either bricklayers or hairdressers. While a statutory approach, such as a licence to practice or operate, may suit some industries, we believe that collaborative voluntary action will be the appropriate route for most sectors.
We have an excellent example of such an employer led initiative in the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS). Major contractors have made a commitment to improve performance by requiring members of their workforce to hold an industry record cardnormally the CSCS.
In the skills strategy we stated our determination to put employers' needs centre stage; it is for employers, not Government, to determine through their Sector Skills Council, whether this kind of agreement for collaborative action should be pursued.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total targeted transitional grant is that he expects to give to local education authorities; and whether this sum is additional to the total DFES support grant available for local education authorities. [139093]
Mr. Miliband: Indicative allocations of targeted transitional grant for 200405 were published on 29 October: these totalled £120 million. Allocations for 200405 will be confirmed later this month. I expect to make around half the 200405 level of grant available nationally in 200506: details will be confirmed in due course. The transitional grant is additional to the funding for local education authorities which was announced following the Spending Review 2002.
In addition, if any local education authority is able to put forward a compelling case that additional, transitional funds are needed in the short termabove and beyond those already available to the LEAmy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be prepared to consider bringing forward grant payments from my department, so that the LEA will have funds available in 200405 for this purpose, with the expectation of a consequential reduction to what they will receive in future years. The maximum amount that might be made available to each LEA in this way would be 300,000 per authority, or 0.2 per cent. of the authority's total education resources in 200405, if that is higher.
Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had on modern apprenticeships; what plans he has to expand Government aided apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement. [139444]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and his ministerial colleagues have regular meetings with numerous organisations and agencies
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to discuss modern apprenticeship developments. The Secretary of State has agreed to take part in a panel discussion at the Confederation of British Industry conference to address skills issues including modern apprenticeships. There are plans for Sir Roy Gardner, Chair of the Modern Apprenticeship Task Force, to feed back the task force's interim findings to the Secretary of State and myself.
The Government are wholly behind modern apprenticeships as a high quality work-based learning option for young people. We are fully committed to implementing the reforms recommended by the Modern Apprenticeships Advisory Committee under Sir John Cassels, and more recent skills strategy announcements. We have adopted a PSA target for 2004 of 28 per cent. of young people entering a modern apprenticeship before the age of 22. We have made sufficient resources available to ensure that we meet this target and are on course to achieve it.
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the (a) capital expenditure and (b) running costs likely to arise as a result of the establishing of the Office of Fair Access. [137474]
Alan Johnson: This matter will be addressed in the explanatory notes which will be published when legislative proposals are presented to the House. We have proposed, in "Widening Participation in Higher Education" that OFFA will be separate from but supported by HEFCE. We do not expect any significant capital expenditure.
Mr. Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the vacancy figure for primary school teachers in Essex was on 1 September 2003. [139523]
Mr. Miliband: Vacancy information is collected in January of each year. Information for January 2003 is shown in table 17 of the Schools Workforce in England statistical first release (SFR) of 9 September 2003. A copy of this SFR has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgatewav/DB/SFR/s000411/index.shtml
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost of publishing stand-alone school performance tables for Key Stage 3 was. [139087]
Mr. Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 4 July 2003, Official Report, column. 680W. The Key Stage 3, GCSE/GNVQ and post-16 performance tables are managed as one exercise so there are no separate costings.
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Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what process he followed in appointing Mr. Steven Schwarz to lead a review into admissions to higher education; what (a) exchanges and (b) representations took place between himself and Mr. Schwarz regarding the independence of such a review; and what guidelines there are regarding independence of reviews carried out at his request. [139123]
Alan Johnson: The Secretary of State for Education and Skills appointed Professor Steven Schwartz following discussion with organisations in the higher education sector. This included contact with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and Universities UK (UUK).
The Secretary of State for Education and Skills has drawn up clear terms of reference for the Admissions to Higher Education Steering Group which are set out in its recent consultation paper, "Consultation On Key Issues Relating To Fair Admissions To Higher Education", available from www.admissions-review.org.uk.
The Admissions to Higher Education Review adheres to good practice in preserving the independence of such reviews. This is demonstrated by the following:
Professor Schwartz has a Steering Group whose members represent a wide range of interests and views.
The secretariat support to the Steering Group is led by consultants seconded from universities, rather than permanent civil servants.
Any services commissioned by the Steering Group where resources or facilities are provided by the DfES have been subject to service level agreements.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library statistics for the most recent available year consistent with those on which DFES statistical bulletin 1384 was based. [139028]
Mr. Miliband: The Department does not produce figures in the form of bulletin 1384 and to produce an update in that form would involve disproportionate cost.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence he has collated on the differences in student drop-out rates between institutions, correlated with the socio-economic class of those dropping out. [135780]
Alan Johnson: The available information on non-completion rates by institution is contained in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) publication 'Performance indicators in higher education in the UK ', a copy of which is in the house
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Library. The figures cover full-time first degree courses only and show the proportion of entrants who failed to complete their course for each individual HE institution in the UK. This data is not disaggregated by social class. However, the publication does show the proportion of young full time first degree entrants from the 'lower' social class categories for each institution.
However, a number of research studies have explored the factors associated with students dropping out of higher education. The evidence shows that non-completion is a complex process that cannot normally be explained by a single factor. Other important factors (many of which are inter-related) include:
lack of preparation for higher education;
lack of commitment to the course;
level of prior attainment;
financial hardship;
poor academic progress;
health and other personal reason;
age;
gender; and
whether or not the individual applied through clearing.
(ii) 'Effects of in-class variation and student rank on the probability of withdrawal: cross-section and time-series analysis for UK university students', by Arulampalam W, Naylor R A and Smith J, presented at the Royal Economic Society Conference at the University of Warwick in March 2002. It can be downloaded from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/economics/staff/faculty/naylor/publications/
(iii) 'Dropping Out: A study of early leavers from Higher Education' by Rhys Davies and Peter Elias, DfES Research Report 386 available from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/ (iv) 'Higher Education: Student Retention' a report made by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to the House of Commons Education and Employment Committee, found at http://www.parliament.the-stationery- office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmeduemp/124/12402.htm.
Alan Johnson: A number of research studies have explored the factors associated with dropping out of higher education. These include:
"Dropping Out: A study of early leavers from Higher Education" (2003) Rhys Davies and Peter Elias, DfES Research Report 386; and
Yorke, M (1997) "Undergraduate Non-completion in Higher Education in England" Bristol HEFCE;
Arulampalam, W., Naylor, R. A. and Smith, J., "Effects of in-class variation and student rank on the probability of withdrawal: cross-section and time-series analysis for UK university students," presented at the Royal Economic Society Conference, University of Warwick, March, 2002;
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"Right Choice? A follow-up to 'Making the Right Choice'", Connor H. Pearson R, Pollard E, Tyers C, Willison R. Universities UK 2001;
"Losing out: socio-economic disadvantage and experience in further and higher education" May 2003 Joseph Rowntree Foundation Smith J. and R. A. Naylor, "Dropping out of University: a statistical analysis of the probability of withdrawal for UK university students," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 2001, vol. 164, pp. 389405;
financial hardship;
poor academic progress; and
health or other personal reasons.
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