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11 Feb 2004 : Column 1483W—continued

Wind Farms

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how her Department's energy policy takes account of the effect on grid security and stability of large-scale remote wind generation. [152449]

Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 6 February, Official Report, column 1098W.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Student Finance

Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of families have residual incomes which would mean that their children (a) would be entitled to claim a full grant and (b) would be entitled to claim a partial grant under the terms of the Higher Education Bill, broken down by constituency. [152620]

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Alan Johnson: The information requested is not available by constituency. Based on the proposals for the single combined up-front grant of £2,700 in 2006/07, as detailed in the Departmental paper "Moving toward a single combined grant for higher education", we would expect:



Future numbers and proportions of students receiving grants also depend on changes in demand for higher education and the future rate of growth of real incomes.

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what arrangements he intends to put in place to recover fees and loans paid for study at British universities to students from other EU countries; and what plans he has to refuse admission to other EU students unless such recovery arrangements are accepted by the countries from which they come; [154241]

Alan Johnson: The Student Loans Company (SLC) are responsible for ensuring repayments are made when they fall due, and have well established procedures for recovering loans from graduates living and working outside the UK. All students taking out a loan are required to sign a declaration agreeing to repay, even if they move abroad. The SLC have a range of sanctions that can be imposed on defaulters. Officials and SLC are exploring ways to ensure the most robust and effective loan recovery mechanisms are in place. There are no plans which would allow HEIs to refuse admission to EU students.

Building Schools for the Future

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will announce his decisions on the Building Schools for the Future programme; and if he will make a statement. [154030]

Mr. Miliband: We aim to announce successful projects in the first wave of Building Schools for the Future shortly. A written statement will be made to Parliament. Later this year, we expect to make announcements about subsequent waves of funding.

Faith Schools

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what procedures need to be followed to open a new faith school within the state sector. [153253]

Mr. Miliband: The procedures for opening a new faith school within the state sector are the same as for any other new school, except that faith schools must also be designated by the Secretary of State as having a religious character. Procedures will always involve consultation in the local area and an opportunity for interested parties to make representations on the proposals, but in

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the case of additional secondary schools, the LEA must invite others to bring forward proposals before it may publish its own proposals. Proposals brought forward by promoters may be for a maintained school or an Academy. Most proposals will be decided by the local School Organisation Committee (SOC) or the independent Adjudicator where the SOC cannot reach unanimous agreement. Those for additional secondary schools and Academies will be decided by the Secretary of State, in the light of comments by the SOC. Maintained schools proposed to have a religious character will then be designated as such by the Secretary of State.

The SOC or Adjudicator may not approve proposals unless satisfied that any capital funding necessary for

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their implementation has been secured. Capital funding for most schools is provided by the LEA, but in the case of voluntary aided schools and Academies, up to 90 per cent. of the funding is provided directly by the DfES, with the promoter being responsible for the rest.

Foundation Degrees

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) women and (b) men obtained higher degrees and entered paid, full-time, permanent employment in the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by standard industrial classification of employer. [143149]

Alan Johnson: The latest available information, is taken from the Higher Education Statistics Agency's First Destination Record, is shown in the table.

First destination of home and EU postgraduates entering full-time paid employment in the UK

1997/981998/991999/2000
Standard industrial classificationMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal
Agriculture and forestry423274322355242044
Fishing8210213112
Mining and quarrying152492019140131177087
Manufacturing1,0585911,6498555741,4295307401,270
Electricity, gas and water supply130732038569154488413278
Construction92221148425109197190
Wholesale and retail trade189164353133133266119113232
Hotels and restaurants162440272249251439
Transport, storage and communication290130420262113375148258406
Financial activities555281836494237731250448698
Property development, renting, business and research2,0891,2323,3211,9981,2383,2361,3071,9033,210
Public administration and defence8457691,6148218001,6217357771,512
Education4,7188,98013,6984,1579,01813,1759,0054,18913,194
Health and social work5559911,5463818281,2098513611,212
Other community, social and personal service activities227336563270318588361234595
Private households with employed persons145123112
International organisations and bodies2101210102014418
Not known8769156102791814961110
Total11,05613,75924,8159,80513,53023,33513,5049,34922,853

2000/01 2001/02
Standard industrial classificationMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal
Agriculture and forestry181331162036
Fishing112213
Mining and quarrying9139130277097
Manufacturing6844471,1314475991,046
Electricity, gas and water supply78401185372125
Construction6128893982121
Wholesale and retail trade112143255167154321
Hotels and restaurants262450382664
Transport, storage and communication219119338108167275
Financial activities514251765245425670
Property development, renting, business and research1,8321,3513,1831,1541,6202,774
Public administration and defence8309571,7879588731,831
Education4,1069,89714,00311,3484,68716,035
Health and social work3188841,2028653751,240
Other community, social and personal service activities243322565369206575
Private households with employed persons011202
International organisations and bodies3811131528
Not known363773172037
Total9,17214,56223,734158,6869,41225,280

Higher Education

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the consolidation of the £170 million funding to support higher education institutions' human resources policies into the main teaching fund will be in addition to the annual teaching fund grant increases for 2004–05 and 2005–06. [152664]

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Alan Johnson: The £170 million Rewarding and Developing Staff initiative funding for 2003–04 will be consolidated into the block teaching grant from 2004–05 onwards. This funding is in addition to the annual teaching fund increases for 2004–05. The figures for 2005–06 have not yet been announced.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate was made in the regulatory impact assessment of the total cost to a higher education institution (HEI) of pursuing the new proposals, ring-fenced funds and initiatives which will require payments to be made by HEIs. [152777]

Alan Johnson: The regulatory impact assessment published on 8 January alongside the HE Bill includes details of the costs of the proposals in the Bill and the associated package of improvements in student support.

In November, we announced the mainstreaming of four ring fenced funds into larger funding allocations ('Golden Hellos', the Promising Researcher Fellowship Scheme, Additional Capital for leading research institutions and Knowledge Exchanges). We continue to monitor the number of special funding allocations to ensure that they are appropriately targeted and that demands on institutions are proportionate to the sums involved.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list proposals in the Higher Education White Paper which have subsequently been dropped by the Government. [153066]

Alan Johnson: In light of responses to the consultations on the higher education White Paper, published in January 2003, a number of adjustments have been made to the White Paper proposals, which are now being carried forward through the Higher Education Bill and in other ways. We have decided not to incentivise the demand for Foundation Degrees; and not to ask the Office for Fair Access to have a role in ensuring that admissions procedures are fair, professional and transparent.

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