House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 21 Jan 2004 (pt 19)

21 Jan 2004 : Column 1313W—continued

Bullying

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many incidents of bullying have taken place in schools in (a) Lancashire and (b) Chorley in each of the last three years. [148372]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Data on bullying are not collected centrally and there is no reliable basis for an estimate of prevalence. However, any level of bullying is too high and we are determined to help schools to tackle the problem. Our guidance pack "Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence" and the anti-bullying website: www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying offer detailed advice on preventing and addressing bullying. I have also recently launched our anti-bullying Charter, which I hope schools will sign and use. It is accompanied by a summary of effective practice to help schools review and enhance their anti-bullying policies. We are also currently running a series of England-wide regional anti-bullying conferences for schools and other partners to share good practice.

Dr. Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what research his Department has commissioned on bullying in schools; [148102]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: In March 2003 I launched a DfES-funded report summarising recent research on children and young people's views on bullying. This is available on the Department's website at www.dfes.gov.uk/research. Rather than collecting data from schools, which would add to their workload, we are concentrating on helping schools to reduce bullying. Disseminating good practice is crucial to this. So we have made our anti-bullying guidance pack "Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence" and the anti-bullying Charter which I launched in November available to every school in England. And we are currently running a series of England-wide regional conferences for schools and other partners to share good practice. This is in addition to staff training materials on bullying which we are making available to all secondary schools through our Key Stage 3 strategy.

Career Guidance

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the place of career guidance within the provision by the Connexions Service. [149511]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 January 2004]: Career guidance is a key part of the work of Connexions. All 13–19 year olds in England have access to support on making learning and career choices from Connexions. The level of support each individual

21 Jan 2004 : Column 1314W

receives is differentiated according to need. Support is provided in a range of ways, including through: one to one and group sessions with a Connexions Personal Adviser; Connexions Direct—a telephone helpline, e-mail and web-chat facility, open from 8am to 2am, 365 days a year; and the careers information materials available in Connexions Resource centres in schools, colleges and Connexions one-stop shops.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy to ensure that (a) access to and (b) provision of careers guidance and advice is equal between young people (i) in education and (ii) not in employment and training. [149514]

Margaret Hodge: All young people can access Connexions services on an equal basis through their schools and colleges, one-stop shops and Connexions Direct. Provision of careers advice and guidance —as with all the services provided by Connexions—is differentiated according to need. This applies to all young people, irrespective of whether or not they are currently in education, employment or training.

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what qualifications are required of Connexions personal advisers who are expected to provide careers guidance and advice. [149515]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 January 2004]: The Secretary of State recognises three specific qualifications for Connexions Personal Advisers who give in depth career guidance to young people in the statutory client group; these are the Qualification in Careers Guidance (QCG), NVQ Level 4 in Advice and Guidance (including specified units) and the Diploma in Careers Guidance (DCG). DfES provides funding to support the initial training of careers guidance professionals to help encourage people from a wide range of backgrounds to move into the role of specialist career guidance practitioner.

Children Bill

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions have been held with local government representatives about the forthcoming Children Bill. [148783]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 January 2004]: I have worked closely with the Inter Agency Group, which brings together local government, health and voluntary sector representative bodies, to ensure that we understand their views fully in developing the Children Bill, as well as the other work the Government are taking forward following the publication of "Every Child Matters". Officials have also regularly met representatives of local government to discuss policy development. Our work has also been informed by the extensive consultation we undertook on "Every Child Matters". All areas of local government were fully represented at the nine regional consultation events and we are pleased to have received a huge response to the written consultation, including many submissions from local government representative groups and local authorities. I have also met individual local authority representatives in a number of meetings and on a range of visits.

21 Jan 2004 : Column 1315W

Connexions Service

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Connexions Service clients there were in each year since its establishment, broken down (a) by Connexions service area and (b) by (i) young people not in education, employment or training and (ii) others. [149512]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 January 2004]: The following tables show the number of Connexions

21 Jan 2004 : Column 1316W

Service clients (young people aged 13 to 19 known to Connexions) for the period 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04.

Table 1 shows those clients known not to be in education, employment and training, and other young people who have completed compulsory education.

Table 2 shows the number of clients of compulsory education age for the operational years of 2002–3 and 2003–4. This information was not collected in 2001–2.

Table 1: Number of clients/young people who have completed compulsory Education known to connexions

Not in Education, Employment or Training Other Total

2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04

ENGLAND 44,740 142.328 122,742 506,313 1,521,504 1,939,517 551,053 1,663,832 2,062,259

Bedfordshire and Luton 2,333 1,605 24,425 24,393 26,758 25,998

Berkshire 1,884 1,780 29,792 30,660 31,676 32,440

Birmingham and Solihull 3,672 4,000 53,283 50,775 56,955 54,775

Black Country 6,337 6,914 4,489 39,085 44,611 47,387 45,422 51,525 51,876

Bournemouth Dorset and Poole 2,019 1,022 24,862 26,123 26,881 27,145

Cambs and Peterborough 2,423 1,851 25,784 26,190 28,206 28,041

Central London 5,998 3,733 37,757 41,588 43,754 45,321

Cheshire and Warrington 2,694 2,978 2,196 33,726 37,064 37,318 36,420 40,042 39,514

Cornwall and Devon 3,522 3,798 2,921 60,277 60,757 61,690 63,799 64,555 64,611

County Durham 2,774 2,053 15,652 16,860 18,426 18,913

Coventry and Warwick 2,688 2,854 2,253 26,052 32,540 32,880 28,740 35,394 35,133

Cumbria 1,935 1,789 1,199 18,498 19,678 19,867 20,433 21,467 21,066

Derbyshire 4,407 2,784 38,195 37,371 42,602 40,155

East London 8,281 6,973 82,871 87,465 91,152 94,438

Essex Southend and Thurrock 5,449 2,816 65,974 65,928 71,422 68,744

Gloucestershire 852 856 16,716 23,687 17,569 24,543

Greater Manchester 11,073 7,961 109,572 110,988 120,646 118,949

Greater Merseyside 8,918 8,431 6,659 62,252 61,931 65,154 71,170 70,362 71,813

Hereford and Worcester 1,684 1,218 26,626 26,966 28,311 28,183

Hertfordshire 1,835 1,521 43,967 38,799 45,801 40,320

Humber 3,486 3,982 4,049 36,635 33,156 35,457 40,121 37,139 39,506

Kent 3,788 4,014 76,761 66,520 80,548 70,534

Lancashire 5,769 4,315 57,385 57,348 63,155 61,663

Leicestershire 3,755 1,753 37,541 36,461 41,295 38,214

Lincolnshire and Rutland 1,167 1,487 1,332 23,540 27,110 27,033 24,707 28,597 28,366

Milton Keynes Ox and Bucks 1,625 2,820 2,590 48,647 50,046 50,184 50,272 52,867 52,774

Norfolk 1,523 920 27,222 26,694 28,745 27,614

North London 2,971 4,071 2,317 35,750 40,711 43,659 38,721 44,782 45,976

Northamptonshire 1,489 1,725 24,325 22,925 25,814 24,649

Northumberland 654 12,053 12,707

Nottinghamshire 2,951 1,937 40,886 43,823 43,837 45,760

Shropshire Telford and Wrekin 1,122 1,086 736 18,169 17,946 18,112 19,291 19,031 18,849

Somerset 837 463 16,477 17,758 17,314 18,221

South Central 3,065 2,883 83,429 71,470 86,494 74,352

South London 4,498 4,282 2,107 47,023 47,418 49,040 51,521 51,700 51,147

South Yorkshire 5,604 6,661 4,061 46,399 48,121 50,781 52,003 54,783 54,841

Staffordshire 5,551 3,538 41,258 42,724 46,809 46,262

Suffolk 2,204 2,754 1,332 30,508 27,866 25,591 32,712 30,620 26,924

Surrey 1,010 1,254 44,580 37,174 45,591 38,428

Sussex 3,087 1,608 60,234 54,453 63,321 56,061

Tees Valley 4,305 2,374 29,573 29,710 33,879 32,084

Tyne and Wear 8,385 4,481 41,462 43,943 49,847 48,423

West London 5,347 3,232 50,608 49,118 55,954 52,350

West of England 2,057 2,447 2,251 33,667 30,921 35,957 35,724 33,367 38,208

West Yorkshire 9,357 6,154 86,292 86,413 95,649 92,567

Wiltshire and Swindon 1,284 937 21,647 23,256 22,931 24,192

York and North Yorkshire 2,310 917 32,497 30,155 34,807 31,072

	Not in Education, Employment or Training	Other	Total
	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04
ENGLAND	44,740	142.328	122,742	506,313	1,521,504	1,939,517	551,053	1,663,832	2,062,259
Bedfordshire and Luton		2,333	1,605		24,425	24,393		26,758	25,998
Berkshire		1,884	1,780		29,792	30,660		31,676	32,440
Birmingham and Solihull		3,672	4,000		53,283	50,775		56,955	54,775
Black Country	6,337	6,914	4,489	39,085	44,611	47,387	45,422	51,525	51,876
Bournemouth Dorset and Poole		2,019	1,022		24,862	26,123		26,881	27,145
Cambs and Peterborough		2,423	1,851		25,784	26,190		28,206	28,041
Central London		5,998	3,733		37,757	41,588		43,754	45,321
Cheshire and Warrington	2,694	2,978	2,196	33,726	37,064	37,318	36,420	40,042	39,514
Cornwall and Devon	3,522	3,798	2,921	60,277	60,757	61,690	63,799	64,555	64,611
County Durham		2,774	2,053		15,652	16,860		18,426	18,913
Coventry and Warwick	2,688	2,854	2,253	26,052	32,540	32,880	28,740	35,394	35,133
Cumbria	1,935	1,789	1,199	18,498	19,678	19,867	20,433	21,467	21,066
Derbyshire		4,407	2,784		38,195	37,371		42,602	40,155
East London		8,281	6,973		82,871	87,465		91,152	94,438
Essex Southend and Thurrock		5,449	2,816		65,974	65,928		71,422	68,744
Gloucestershire		852	856		16,716	23,687		17,569	24,543
Greater Manchester		11,073	7,961		109,572	110,988		120,646	118,949
Greater Merseyside	8,918	8,431	6,659	62,252	61,931	65,154	71,170	70,362	71,813
Hereford and Worcester		1,684	1,218		26,626	26,966		28,311	28,183
Hertfordshire		1,835	1,521		43,967	38,799		45,801	40,320
Humber	3,486	3,982	4,049	36,635	33,156	35,457	40,121	37,139	39,506
Kent		3,788	4,014		76,761	66,520		80,548	70,534
Lancashire		5,769	4,315		57,385	57,348		63,155	61,663
Leicestershire		3,755	1,753		37,541	36,461		41,295	38,214
Lincolnshire and Rutland	1,167	1,487	1,332	23,540	27,110	27,033	24,707	28,597	28,366
Milton Keynes Ox and Bucks	1,625	2,820	2,590	48,647	50,046	50,184	50,272	52,867	52,774
Norfolk		1,523	920		27,222	26,694		28,745	27,614
North London	2,971	4,071	2,317	35,750	40,711	43,659	38,721	44,782	45,976
Northamptonshire		1,489	1,725		24,325	22,925		25,814	24,649
Northumberland			654			12,053			12,707
Nottinghamshire		2,951	1,937		40,886	43,823		43,837	45,760
Shropshire Telford and Wrekin	1,122	1,086	736	18,169	17,946	18,112	19,291	19,031	18,849
Somerset		837	463		16,477	17,758		17,314	18,221
South Central		3,065	2,883		83,429	71,470		86,494	74,352
South London	4,498	4,282	2,107	47,023	47,418	49,040	51,521	51,700	51,147
South Yorkshire	5,604	6,661	4,061	46,399	48,121	50,781	52,003	54,783	54,841
Staffordshire		5,551	3,538		41,258	42,724		46,809	46,262
Suffolk	2,204	2,754	1,332	30,508	27,866	25,591	32,712	30,620	26,924
Surrey		1,010	1,254		44,580	37,174		45,591	38,428
Sussex		3,087	1,608		60,234	54,453		63,321	56,061
Tees Valley		4,305	2,374		29,573	29,710		33,879	32,084
Tyne and Wear		8,385	4,481		41,462	43,943		49,847	48,423
West London		5,347	3,232		50,608	49,118		55,954	52,350
West of England	2,057	2,447	2,251	33,667	30,921	35,957	35,724	33,367	38,208
West Yorkshire		9,357	6,154		86,292	86,413		95,649	92,567
Wiltshire and Swindon		1,284	937		21,647	23,256		22,931	24,192
York and North Yorkshire		2,310	917		32,497	30,155		34,807	31,072

Notes:

1. The information compiled represents averages of monthly data provided by Connexions Partnerships from their own management information and tracking systems.

2. The first 15 Connexions Partnerships commenced in April and September 2001. The second and third phases of Connexions Partnerships started from April 2002.

Table 2: Number of clients/young people of compulsory education age known to connexionsNote: This data was not collected in 2001

2002–03 2003–04

ENGLAND 1,590,390 2,075,363

Bedfordshire and Luton 26,123 26,911

Berkshire 26,241 28,576

Birmingham and Solihull 62,480 62,255

Black Country 54,111 53,216

Bournemouth Dorset and Poole 24,894 26,113

Cambs and Peterborough 32,435 36,771

Central London 25,483 34,764

Cheshire and Warrington 42,575 40,953

Cornwall and Devon 61,797 63,356

County Durham 24,065 24,982

Coventry and Warwick 35,752 38,878

Cumbria 25,139 22,668

Derbyshire 32,739 41,328

East London 87,214 90,610

Essex Southend and Thurrock 80,224 81,980

Gloucestershire 24,131 24,426

Greater Manchester 132,465 128,915

Greater Merseyside 70,652 54,292

Hereford and Worcester 33,774 34,309

Hertfordshire 38,005 39,812

Humber 40,781 46,996

Kent 49,959 62,486

Lancashire 56,010 72,163

Leicestershire 34,106 40,584

Lincolnshire and Rutland 26,179 27,985

Milton Keynes Ox and Bucks 51,109 57,699

Norfolk 37,171 36,928

North London 30,237 40,399

Northamptonshire 29,769 26,853

Northumberland⁽³³⁾ 11,722

Nottinghamshire 48,028 45,433

Shropshire Telford and Wrekin 13,756 12,959

Somerset 16,794 15,653

South Central 59,204 55,012

South London 42,835 39,762

South Yorkshire 62,325 64,015

Staffordshire 43,324 35,941

Suffolk 31,995 32,387

Surrey 22,015 30,913

Sussex 41,237 52,233

Tees Valley 40,033 36,911

Tyne and Wear 49,471 45,569

West London 38,436 42,161

West of England 34,266 36,953

West Yorkshire 101,715 105,622

Wiltshire and Swindon 21,278 22,955

York and North Yorkshire 30,284 29,490

	2002–03	2003–04
ENGLAND	1,590,390	2,075,363
Bedfordshire and Luton	26,123	26,911
Berkshire	26,241	28,576
Birmingham and Solihull	62,480	62,255
Black Country	54,111	53,216
Bournemouth Dorset and Poole	24,894	26,113
Cambs and Peterborough	32,435	36,771
Central London	25,483	34,764
Cheshire and Warrington	42,575	40,953
Cornwall and Devon	61,797	63,356
County Durham	24,065	24,982
Coventry and Warwick	35,752	38,878
Cumbria	25,139	22,668
Derbyshire	32,739	41,328
East London	87,214	90,610
Essex Southend and Thurrock	80,224	81,980
Gloucestershire	24,131	24,426
Greater Manchester	132,465	128,915
Greater Merseyside	70,652	54,292
Hereford and Worcester	33,774	34,309
Hertfordshire	38,005	39,812
Humber	40,781	46,996
Kent	49,959	62,486
Lancashire	56,010	72,163
Leicestershire	34,106	40,584
Lincolnshire and Rutland	26,179	27,985
Milton Keynes Ox and Bucks	51,109	57,699
Norfolk	37,171	36,928
North London	30,237	40,399
Northamptonshire	29,769	26,853
Northumberland⁽³³⁾		11,722
Nottinghamshire	48,028	45,433
Shropshire Telford and Wrekin	13,756	12,959
Somerset	16,794	15,653
South Central	59,204	55,012
South London	42,835	39,762
South Yorkshire	62,325	64,015
Staffordshire	43,324	35,941
Suffolk	31,995	32,387
Surrey	22,015	30,913
Sussex	41,237	52,233
Tees Valley	40,033	36,911
Tyne and Wear	49,471	45,569
West London	38,436	42,161
West of England	34,266	36,953
West Yorkshire	101,715	105,622
Wiltshire and Swindon	21,278	22,955
York and North Yorkshire	30,284	29,490

⁽³³⁾ Northumberland Connexions Partnership commenced in April 2003.

Notes:

The information complied represents averages of monthly data provided by Connexions partnerships from their own management information and tracking systems.

21 Jan 2004 : Column 1317W

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is the policy of the Connexions Service to give special attention to young people not in education, employment or training. [149513]

Margaret Hodge [holding answer 20 January 2004]: It is the policy of the Connexions Service to reduce the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training. It does so through preventive work with young people who are in education employment and training and targeted, individual work with those who are not.

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