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26 Feb 2004 : Column 536W—continued

Supreme Court

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what arrangements have been made to find a suitable building for the proposed Supreme Court. [156330]

Mr. Leslie: An extensive property search was commissioned to identify suitable locations for the new Supreme Court in central London. Following that, a number of options are being considered, both commercial sites and those already on the Government estate. An evaluation of those sites is currently being conducted to identify the preferred building solution.

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether it is the Government's policy to construct a new building for the proposed Supreme Court. [156331]

Mr. Leslie: A number of options are being considered. Whatever solution is ultimately chosen, the new building for the Supreme Court will need to provide a secure working environment for judiciary and staff and contain appropriate hearing rooms and ancillary accommodation and facilities. It will also have to provide value for money.

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs who has been engaged by the Government to find a suitable location for the proposed Supreme Court. [156332]

Mr. Leslie: My Department has reviewed its own estate and consulted the Office of Government Commerce about availability on the London Civil Estate. Additionally, we have approached all Government Departments direct. In order to establish availability in the commercial market, we have engaged the services of property agents Knight Frank to carry out a thorough search of central London locations suitable for the new UK Supreme Court.

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent so far on outside consultants charged with the task of finding a suitable location for the proposed Supreme Court. [156333]

Mr. Leslie: My Department has committed fees of approximately £19,000 on the search for potential sites for the new Supreme Court. A further £83,000 has been

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committed on the analysis and evaluation of the options and completion of the necessary Treasury 'Green Book' style economic appraisals.

As a result of commercial negotiations, this is slightly lower than the figure given by my right hon. and noble Friend, Lord Falconer, in the other place on the 29 January.

Mr. Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs if he will publish the specifications set by the Government for a suitable building for the proposed Supreme Court. [156334]

Mr. Leslie: The property search is being undertaken on the basis of a requirement for a new or existing building in central London. The space requirement was calculated on the basis of providing at least three hearing rooms requiring 500 m 2 , 14 judicial chambers and ancillary accommodation totalling 1300 m 2 , staff accommodation and facilities totalling 800 m 2 , 400 m 2 of public area and facilities and 550 m 2 for library and records storage.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Access Courses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what projects his Department is piloting to increase the number of part-time students from the poorest communities taking up and completing access courses. [156305]

Alan Johnson: My Department is piloting no such projects. However, I have asked the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), which regulates the national recognition of Access Courses, to make proposals which modernise the criteria for access courses, so that they are sufficiently flexible and attractive to meet the needs of today's adult learners. My Department is expecting these proposals in the spring.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations his Department has received on the impact of the benefits system on the take up of part-time access courses. [156307]

Alan Johnson: Neither my Department nor that of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions have received any specific representations.

Adult and Community Learning

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many people were enrolled on adult and community learning programmes in each year since 1995; [147441]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The numbers of learners in (i) adult and community learning and adult education courses run through local education authorities; (ii) LearnDirect; and (iii) adult basic skills, are set out as follows.

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The number of enrolments on adult education courses run through local education authorities (LEAs) in England at 1 November each year is published annually in the Statistical First Release, "Adult Education Enrolments in England". Data on adult and community learning in Wales were collected and published by the National Assembly for Wales. The following table shows the number of enrolments in England and Wales as at 1 November in each year from 1995 to 2002, the latest year for which figures are available. These figures include enrolments on both courses that do and do not lead to a recognised qualification.

Adult education enrolments(14) in England and Wales: 1995 to 2002
Thousand

NovemberEnglandWales
19951,15328
19961,23239
19971,06252
19981,11562
19991,05467
20001,04164
20011,052(15)59
20021,042(15)56

(14) Enrolments are not the same as learners. Individuals on a number of courses are counted more than once.

(15) Due to changes in data collection, figures from 2001 onwards are not directly comparable with those prior to 2001. Furthermore, data from 2001 relate to the number of enrolments in the first week of December as opposed to November.

Sources:

Statistical First Release: "Adult Education Enrolments in England—November 2002"

Statistical First Release: "Adult Education in Wales: Local Authority Provision 2000"

Statistical Bulletin: "Adult Continuing Education in Wales 2001/02 and 2002/03"


The figures in the following table show the numbers of learners on LearnDirect provision in England and Wales in each year since 2000/01, the earliest year for which figures are available.

Learners (in thousands) on LearnDirect provision in England and Wales 2000/01 to 2002/03

Academic yearEnglandWales
2000/011374
2001/0234711
2002/03485n/a

Sources:

LearnDirect

National Council-ELWa


The final table shows the number of enrolments on adult basic skills courses in England and Wales.

Enrolments (in thousands) on adult basic skills in England and Wales—2000/01 to 2002/03

Academic yearEnglandWales
2000/0172425
2001/021,13625
2002/031,230n/a

Notes:

1. England enrolment data includes Learning and Skills Council funded learning opportunities; estimates from the Offenders' Learning and Skills Unit; and the Department for Work and Pensions.

2. Wales enrolment data from 'National Council-ELWa'.


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Building Schools for the Future Fund

Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons the London Borough of Islington was unsuccessful in its recent bid for support from the Building Schools for the Future Fund. [156594]

Mr. Miliband: All applications for funding in the first wave of Building Schools for the Future (BSF) were appraised against the criteria we set out in our invitation to all authorities to apply for prioritisation. These criteria were need, as shown by low school standards and relative social deprivation indicated by high levels of take-up for free schools meals, the strength of the authority's educational vision and its capacity to deliver a large procurement project to support that vision. All proposals were rigorously appraised against these criteria and there was stringent moderation to ensure fairness. We prioritised projects which best met these criteria. Unfortunately, total demand was several times the total of over £2 billion we have available for BSF in 2005–06. All unsuccessful wave 1 authorities are automatically eligible, without further application, for prioritisation in subsequent waves of BSF, along with all authorities which expressed interest in later inclusion. Prioritisation of wave 2 and beyond will be on need as shown by low school standards and take-up of free school meals. We aim to announce prioritisation of authorities in further waves of BSF funding later this year.


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