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2 Feb 2004 : Column 654W—continued
Children in Care
Mr. George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children aged (a) three to six months and (b) six months to one year entered local authority care in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [147911]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is given for children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2002, and for children looked after at 31 March 2002, and is presented in the table.
| Age | Number of children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2002 (by age on starting)(17) | Number of children looked after at 31 March 2002 (by age on that date) |
|---|---|---|
| All aged under 1 year | 3,900 | 2,300 |
| 0–3 months | 2,600 | 390 |
| 3–6 months | 510 | 600 |
| 6 months-1 year | 800 | 1,340 |
(17) Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted.
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Mr. Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what discussions the Minister for Children has held with the Lord Chancellor on ensuring the provision of Legal Aid to those who may wish to challenge past decisions to take children into care on the basis of previous cases of sudden infant death in their families; [150086]
- (2) what steps he is taking to review cases where children have been taken into care on the basis of previous cases of sudden infant death in their families. [150087]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Appeal Court announced its judgment in the case of R v. Angela Cannings on 19 January 2004. I am now studying the judgment carefully, in the light of the Attorney-General's statement on 20 January.
Responsibility for the provision of publicly funded legal services is a matter for the Lord Chancellor.
Civil Servants
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much space, expressed in square metres, the Department occupies for the offices of civil servants in (a) central London and (b) greater London. [150280]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department occupies in total 33,985 square metres of office space in central London, at Caxton House SW1 and Sanctuary Buildings SW1. We have no other offices in central London.
Criminal Records Bureau
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on extending the checking procedures of the Criminal Records Bureau to people engaged in observer roles in classrooms and other school activities. [151765]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department has received no representations on this matter.
Employer Training Pilots
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list for Lancashire the firms and companies taking part in employer training pilots; and how much public funding they have been given. [151276]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Pilots are currently running in 12 LSC areas: Birmingham and Solihull, Derbyshire, Essex, Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear, Wiltshire and Swindon, Berkshire, East London, Kent, Leicester, Shropshire, and South Yorkshire.
Therefore there is not currently a pilot running in Lancashire. In the pre-Budget report statement, the Chancellor announced the extension of the Employer Training Pilots for a third year. Officials are currently working to develop guidelines for selecting pilots to be launched in September.
Education Maintenance Allowances (Liverpool)
Mrs. Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of education maintenance allowances in improving staying-on rates in Liverpool. [150152]
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Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 26 January 2004]: The independent evaluation of EMA began in September 1999 and assesses the impact of EMA among EMA-eligible young people in 10 of the first 15 pilot areas compared to 11 control areas. This evaluation estimated the impact nationally will be around 4.1 percentage points among the full cohort of young people.
Liverpool LEA began piloting EMA in September 2000 and is not formally part of the statistical evaluation. Therefore we do not have statistically reliable information on the exact impact of EMA in Liverpool. We do, however, collect information to assess participation by 16 and 17 year olds by LEA area. This data, which is available on the DfES website and includes information on the numbers of young people accepted for EMA, is replicated in the following table. Although we cannot say that EMA is the only factor causing the increase in participation, it must be a significant contributor to this effect.
| Age | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in education (percentage of age group) | ||||||
| 16 | 63 | 64 | 66 | — | — | |
| 17 | 48 | 48 | 48 | — | — | |
| Combined | 55 | 56 | 57 | — | — | |
| Number of students in further education colleges by LEA of student residency | |
|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 29,394 |
| 1998–99 | 31,075 |
| 1999–2000 | 30,161 |
| 2000–01 | 31,668 |
| 2001–02 | 35,059 |
| Young people accepted for education maintenance allowance (EMA) | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 3,300 |
| 2001–02 | 3,900 |
Further and Higher Education
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to ask the Higher Education Funding Council for England to increase directly funded higher education provision in further education colleges; and if he will make a statement. [151498]
Alan Johnson: I have no plans to ask the Higher Education Funding Council for England to increase directly funded higher education provision in further education colleges. As we said in the White Paper, "The Future of Higher Education", it is important that higher education provision in further education colleges is of the high quality we expect from higher education. We believe that structured partnerships between colleges and universities—franchise or consortium arrangements with colleges funded through partner higher education institutions—will be the primary vehicle to meet these aims and deliver the best benefits for learners.
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There are some instances of niche provision where direct funding of higher education in further education colleges is more appropriate and this will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Common Inspection Framework will take account of higher education provision in further education colleges; and if he will make a statement. [151500]
Alan Johnson: The Common Inspection Framework does not cover higher education provision in further education colleges and there are no plans for it to do so. The quality of higher education provided through further education colleges is subject to review by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) acting on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which has a statutory responsibility to assure the quality of provision it funds. The QAA assesses quality at subject level in further education colleges under the 'Academic Review' element of its quality assurance regime.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with the (a) Quality Assurance Agency and (b) Higher Education Funding Council for England regarding successor arrangements to Academic Review for directly funded higher education which is provided by further education colleges. [151501]
Alan Johnson: None at present. I am aware that HEFCE and QAA are currently considering the successor arrangements after the current round has been completed, and are committed to introducing a revised system.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what new research he is planning to ascertain the scale and scope of higher education delivered by further education colleges; and if he will make a statement. [151502]
Alan Johnson: The Department does not currently have any plans for further research into the scale and scope of higher education delivered by further education providers. The Department, HEFCE and the LSC already have information relating to the amount and type of higher education delivered in further education colleges.
The Government want to expand higher education, including through work-focused Foundation Degrees. Our expectation is that many new Foundation Degrees will be delivered by colleges working with higher education institutions. HEFCE recently invited further education colleges and higher education institutions to bid for additional student numbers and they will be announcing the outcome this spring.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to establish teacher training qualifications for higher education teaching in further education colleges; and if he will make a statement. [151503]
Alan Johnson: The White Paper, "The Future of Higher Education", published in January 2003, set out
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our expectation that professional teaching standards and mandatory qualifications for new higher education (HE) teachers should be established. These are due to be introduced by 2006 and will be applicable to those teaching HE in further education colleges. They will complement the regulations already in place for FE teachers.
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