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Departmental Staff

Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of staff employed within his Department are over 55 years of age; and what (a) number and (b) percentage of staff recruited over the last 12 months are over 55 years of age. [145934]

Mr. Charles Clarke: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for State at the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 20 January 2004, Official Report, column 1130W.

Employer Training Pilots

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list, broken down by region, the (a) firms and (b) companies taking part in Employer Training Pilots; and how much public funding each of them has received in (i) 2001–02, (ii) 2002–03 and (iii) 2003. [150008]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: As the Employer Training Pilots did not commence until September 2002, no public funding was given to employers during 2001–02. Since September 2002 over 6,000 employers have signed up for the pilots. Details of funding paid to participating employers is not held centrally, but by the local Learning and Skills Councils operating the pilots, and the information cannot be collated to the level of detail requested without incurring disproportionate cost. I have, however, asked Mark Haysom, the Learning and Skills Council's Chief Executive, to write to the hon. Gentleman with details of the total amounts of public funding paid to or on behalf of participating employers under the Employer Training Pilots in each of the pilot areas, and the names of participating businesses. A copy of his reply will also be placed in the House of Commons Library.

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the success rate as defined by his Department is for Employer Training Pilots; and if he will make a statement. [150009]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Employer Training Pilots were set up in September 2002 and will run until August 2005. They are testing the effectiveness of a range of measures designed to increase employer-based training for low-skilled employees, resulting in the acquisition of basic skills or level 2 qualifications. An evaluation report on

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the first year of the pilots has been produced for DfES by the Institute for Employment Studies. These interim findings show that at the end of August 2003:

there were over 3,000 employers and 14,000 learners registered as taking part, with more in the process of starting;

more than two in five employers engaged with the ETPs have had no previous involvement with government agencies such as the Learning and Skills Councils or Business Links;

ETP learners tend to be aged between 26 and 45, in full-time low-skilled jobs, and earn an average of £6 an hour. Over half of the learners were female;

both employers and employees were expressing high levels of satisfaction with the programme.

At this interim stage it is too early to draw any definitive conclusions about the pilots and the second year will be used to explore a number of issues in more depth; these include the numbers achieving qualifications, which elements of the pilots are most attractive to employers and employees, and the longer term impact of the training on both businesses and individuals.

The first year evaluation report was published in December 2003 and is available on the DfES website. A copy is also being placed in the House of Commons Library.

Modern Apprenticeships

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many expressions of interest were received between the start of the advertising campaign in London in 2002 promoting modern apprenticeships and three months after the conclusion of the campaign; and how many of these expressions of interest translated into modern apprenticeship courses started. [150010]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Oath of Allegiance

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make provision for school children to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen and the United Kingdom. [150386]

Mr. Charles Clarke: There are no plans to make provision for school children to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen and the United Kingdom. However, understanding about the rights and duties of citizens of the UK and the role of the Queen in our democracy are part of Citizenship education, now a statutory subject for 11 to 16-year-olds.

Pupil Exclusions

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on pupil exclusions. [146665]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government are investing in a wide-ranging programme of measures to improve standards of behaviour and to develop and encourage the use of alternatives to exclusion. But exclusion must

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continue to be one of the sanctions for serious misbehaviour available to schools. And, when a head excludes for good reasons, that decision should not be overturned. We have therefore reformed the legislation governing exclusion appeal panels to strike a better balance between the interests of the individual pupil and those of the school community as a whole.

Rural Youth Grant

Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the amount of rural youth grant given to each local authority in the South West since 1997. [148874]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for Education and Skills does not make rural youth grants to local authorities.

Schoolbags

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures are in place in England and Wales to protect children from back injuries sustained through carrying excessively heavy schoolbags to, in and from school; and if he will make a statement. [148812]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: My Department advises local education authorities and schools in England to provide storage facilities and to plan timetables so that pupils need not carry excessively heavy bags to, in or from school. It is for local authorities and schools to assess and manage the health and safety risks of handling heavy loads.

School Drinking Water

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what provision his Department has made to enable schoolchildren to have access to clean drinking water during the school day. [149862]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 requires all schools to have a wholesome supply of water for domestic purposes, including drinking water. Further guidance is available in Building Bulletin 87 (Guidelines for Environmental Design in Schools), which can be viewed on the website: www.teachernet.gov.uk/energy. However, it is for local education authorities, governors and schools to decide how and when drinking water should be made available to pupils.

University Attendance

Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average public subsidy is for each person attending university in 2003–04. [148444]

Alan Johnson: Our latest estimate is that, on average, a student in higher education will benefit from around £5,300 in public subsidy. This estimate includes the average amount that the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) pay the institution as grant for teaching, the economic costs to the Government of issuing a maintenance loan, and any fee remission and other grants.

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University for Industry

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on the University for Industry in (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04; and what proportion was spent on (i) administration and (ii) staffing. [149991]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: My Department makes grant funding available annually to Ufi which helps to fund Ufi's infrastructure and operating costs including the costs of operating the learndirect information and advice service. Ufi also receives LSC funding indirectly through the sale of learndirect courses and materials to the national network ("hubs") that Ufi has established to deliver learndirect courses.

In 2002–03, £53.800 million was spent from funding allocated to Ufi directly from my Department. Ufi also received £28 million from the sale of learndirect materials to hubs for learning subsidised with public funds. From this income £12.8 million (15.6 per cent.) was spent on staff related costs and £10.5 million (12.8 per cent.) on other administration costs. We are not able to provide the same information for 2003–04 because the financial year is not complete.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of funding provided to the University for Industry by his Department was taken up by learners in 2002–03. [149993]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: In the academic year 2002/03, £139.5 million was set aside for Ufi/learndirect provision by the LSC from its "Learning Participation" budget. From this budget £116 million (83.1 per cent.) was taken up by learners. (The grant funding made available annually by my Department to Ufi does not cover learner costs. Figures are not available for the financial year 2002–03.)

The LSC is currently conducting an audit of the learning undertaken in academic year 2002/03. This audit is expected to be completed in February 2004. The figures provided here are based on interim and pre-audit data and might be subject to subsequent revision.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the Learning and Skills Council low priority adult funding budget will go to the University for Industry in each local Learning and Skills Council region in 2004–05. [149994]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: On 4 December 2003 the Secretary of State for Education and Skills wrote to the LSC setting out LSC budgets for 2004–05. In this letter £6,311.616 million was set aside for the "Learning Participation Budget". This budget (which supports the delivery of a number of Departmental priorities and is not a "low priority" budget) funds participation and achievement in learning by young people and adults and supports workforce development.

The LSC will shortly decide how much of this budget to set aside for learndirect provision in England on the basis of 2003–04 performance.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what liaison takes place between local Learning and Skills Councils and the University for Industry; and if he will make a statement. [149995]

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Mr. Ivan Lewis: Ufi liaises with the 47 local Learning and Skills Councils to agree targets for the engagement through learndirect of different types of priority learners. This results in contracts between the local Learning and Skills Councils and their local learndirect hubs for the delivery of learndirect provision in their area. In year performance is monitored on a regular basis and a biannual review of hubs is undertaken to optimise the contribution of learndirect to local priorities.

There are also regular strategic reviews between Ufi Regional Directors and local Learning and Skills Councils (and other key local and regional partners) to assess and optimise the contribution of learndirect to the achievement of local skills development priorities.

From August 2004, the LSC will contract nationally with Ufi. Provision will, however, continue to be planned locally and local Learning and Skills Councils will monitor performance.

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