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18 May 2004 : Column 902W—continued

Adult Literacy and Numeracy

Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what public funding has been spent on adult (a) literacy and (b) numeracy in Wirral, South in each of the last five years. [173623]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The estimated total spend on "Skills For Life" (the Government's strategy for literacy, language and numeracy needs of all post-16 learners from pre-entry level up to and including level 2) and on Key Skills (essential skills of communication, application of number and information technology), from April 2001 to July 2003, in the Greater Merseyside
 
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Learning and Skills Council (LSC) area is set out in the table:

	Basic skills	Key skills
April 2001 to July 2001(34)	3,803	1,094
August 2001 to July 2002	6,575	1,564
August 2002 to July 2003	10,677	1,755

⁽³⁴⁾    The figures for April to July 2001 include costs incurred from August 2000 on learning aims continuing into April 2001.
Note:
Figures in £ thousands

From the information available to the LSC it has not been feasible to obtain estimates at constituency level or separate figures by subject without incurring disproportionate cost. Likewise it has not been feasible to obtain comparable figures for periods before.

Apprenticeships

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the Government's targets for the take up of (a) young apprenticeships, (b) apprenticeships and (c) advanced apprenticeships over the next three years. [173747]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Currently the Government have a PSA target for first time entry of 28 per cent. of 16 to 21-year-olds to apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeship to be met in 2004/05. At present we are on course to meet the target. Targets for the next Spending Review period from 2004, if they are to apply, are under discussion and will be published in a White Paper in July.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how prospective (a) young apprenticeship, (b) apprenticeship and (c) advanced apprenticeship trainees will be matched up with appropriate employes. [173750]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: For Young Apprenticeships, local Partnerships, involving schools, colleges and businesses will be responsible for the decision on matching pupils with employers. In doing so, they will take account of: the needs and maturity of the pupils; the demands of the programme of study; and the availability and suitability of placements with employers. Local Partnerships will be assisted in their search by relevant bodies such as the Sector Skills Councils and will make available to pupils access to local advice and guidance services.

For apprenticeships post 16 local Learning and Skills Councils will work closely with Connexions Partnerships to match young people with suitable employers and vice versa. To support the current national Apprenticeship marketing campaign the LSC has introduced a lead co-ordinating system across England for Apprenticeships, currently working with over 800 local and national learning organisations who are responsible for managing the interest from employers and in turn, matching this with potential young people.

In the longer term we will set up a clearing house system run by the LSC to match young people with employers more effectively.
 
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Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the new    apprenticeship schemes in the context of the recommendations of the Tomlinson report. [173751]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The 14–19 Working Group, chaired by Mike Tomlinson, has established an Apprenticeship Sub-Group, with the key objective to examine the relationship between Apprenticeships and the overall diploma framework. It is important to have a clear fit between the two.

The Apprenticeship Sub-Group, whose membership is drawn from Sector Skills Councils, learning providers and    employers, the Adult Learning Inspectorate, Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Learning and Skills Council and the Department for Education and Skills, will make recommendations to the main Working Group for inclusion in the Final Report due in the Autumn 2004.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what minimum criteria will be    required to start (a) young apprenticeships, (b) apprenticeships and (c) advanced apprenticeships. [173752]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: For Young Apprenticeships the minimum entry criteria will be: good SATs in English, Mathematics and Science; good attendance and behaviour; and a demonstrable interest in the vocational area. Parents and guardians will also be

asked to give their approval.

For Apprenticeships post 16 Sector Skills Councils will suggest minimum entry criteria related to the needs of their sector and the requirements of particular apprenticeship frameworks. As most apprentices are employed it will continue to be for employers to recruit according to their own entry criteria taking into account guidance from the relevant SSC.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department has spent on advertising the new apprenticeships scheme; and how much it intends to spend in each of the next three years. [173753]

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.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the cost of re-naming and re-branding (a) foundation modern apprenticeships to apprenticeships and (b) advanced modern apprenticeships to advanced apprenticeships. [173754]

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.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the funding streams available before the age of 16 for young apprenticeships students moving on to post-16 apprenticeships. [173755]

 
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Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department will make available up to £3.5 million for the Young.

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the number of over 25s that will register for (a) apprenticeships and (b) advanced apprenticeships in each of the next three years. [173756]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Our Skills Strategy committed us to develop apprenticeships for adults to meet skills needs in response to employer demand. We are working with Sector Skills Councils that are either already licensed or expected to be so in the near future to trial appropriate provision. The overall number of participants will be subject to demand but we estimate that around 1,300 adults would be involved in initial sector trials in 2004/05. Sector agreements will determine numbers in the following two years.

Bootle Schools

Mr. Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how much public funding was spent per pupil in Bootle in each of the last seven years; [172021]

(2) how much public funding was spent per pupil in Bootle in each of the last seven years. [172784]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested is submitted to the Department according to local education authority areas rather than districts within an area. Bootle is a district of Sefton local education authority. The information for Sefton LEA is as follows:
Net Current Expenditure per pupil

	Pre-Primary Education	Primary Education	Pre-primary and Primary	Secondary Education	Special
1996–97	n/a	n/a	1,880	2,640	19,520
1997–98	n/a	n/a	1,890	2,630	20,190
1998–99	n/a	n/a	2,010	2,690	19,950
1999–2000	4,690	2,170	2,180	2,780	23,920
2000–01	16,780	2,330	2,410	3,010	26,120
2001–02	30,560	2,570	2,740	3,430	27,410
2002–03		2,840		3,640

Notes:
1. The financial data are taken from Sefton LEAs' Section 52 Outturn Statement submitted to the DfES from 1999–2000 onwards and the ODPM's RO1 statement previously. Expenditure was not distinguished between pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of the Section 52 outturn statement in 1999–2000. 1999–2000 figures reflect the return of GM schools to local authority maintenance.
2. The outturn 2002–03 tables captured the data in a fundamentally different way to the previous years. Categories were aligned with the Consistent Financial Reporting framework and the spending by LEAs was no longer split by school sector. Consequently the unit costs per pupil in 2002–03 are not strictly comparable with earlier years as they include an apportionment of LEA expenditure based on pupil numbers. 2002–03 data is subject to change by the LEA. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
3. Net current expenditure (NCE) includes expenditure within schools and also that incurred centrally by the LEA.
4. The NCE per pupil figures for pre-primary and primary relate the net current expenditure (after recharges) in the pre-primary sector maintained primary schools to the total number of financial year and pupils who are educated in the maintained nursery and primary schools sector.
5. The NCE per pupil figures for secondary relate the net current expenditure (after recharges) in maintained secondary schools to the total number of financial year pupils who are educated in the maintained secondary schools sector.
6. The NCE per pupil figures for special schools relate the net current expenditure (after recharges) in maintained special schools to the total number of financial year pupils who are educated in the maintained special schools sector.
7. Pupil data are drawn from the Annual Schools Census adjusted to be on a financial year basis.




 
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