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25 May 2004 : Column 1529W—continued
Education Statistics (London)
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many instances of truancy there were in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Brent in each year since 1997; and what the average figures for a London borough were in each year. [172809]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information requested is as follows:
Number of pupils that missed at least a half day due to unauthorised absence in schools in Brent:
| Academic year (September—May) | Primary Schools (percentage) | Secondary Schools (percentage) |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 3,585 (0.68) | 1,378 (0.83) |
| 1999 | 3,738 (0.66) | 1,373 (0.89) |
| 2000 | 3,971 (0.60) | 1,875 (1.04) |
| 2001 | 3,198 (0.55) | 1,930 (0.89) |
| 1002 | 3,262 (0.49) | 1,874 (0.73) |
| 2003 | 3,036 (0.41) | 2,438 (0.86) |
Number of pupils that missed at least a half day due to unauthorised absence in schools in the London Government Office Region:
| Academic year (September—May) | Primary schools (Percentage) | Secondary schools (Percentage) |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 130,606 (0.92) | 74.492 (1.52) |
| 1999 | 133,433 (0.91) | 77,789 (1.48) |
| 2000 | 137,772 (0.90) | 81,088 (1.43) |
| 2001 | 140,592 (0.91) | 89,320 (1.49) |
| 2002 | 136,781 (0.85) | 95,570 (1.45) |
| 2003 | 135,716 (0.79) | 100,843 (1.34) |
Further Education
Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people in the Worthing area he expects to stay in education as a result of the introduction of education maintenance allowances; and what plans he has to provide extra funding to further education colleges in the Worthing area to support these students. [175447]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We estimate there will be about 3,600 extra 16-year-olds in the South East Region in further education this September who would not be participating without EMA. We are unable to provide forecasts of the number of EMA students down to constituency level. The 2002 Spending Review settlement allowed for the expected impact of national EMA in further education institutions.
Higher Education
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria have been applied since 2000 to higher education colleges applying to move from the private sector to Higher Education Funding Council for England direct funding; and what changes there have been since 2000 to these criteria. [175389]
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Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 41W. The criteria have been in place since February 2001 and there have been no changes to them.
ICT
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public money has been spent on information and communications technology in schools in the last five years in the London borough of Wandsworth. [175207]
Mr. Charles Clarke: Over the last five years, schools in the London borough of Wandsworth have benefited from the following funding through the Standards Fund grant for ICT (including match funding from the LEA):
| Allocation to Wandsworth LEA | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 579,974 |
| 2001–02 | 834,881 |
| 2002–03 | 1,188,913 |
| 2003–04 | 1,199,494 |
| 2004–05 | 1,592,626 |
Information, Advice and Guidance Partnerships
Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people holding above-level 2 educational attainment contacted information, advice and guidance partnerships for assistance in the year to 31 March. [175260]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This is an operational matter for the Learning and Skills Council. The Council's Chief Executive will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.
Maintenance Allowances
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills from what date students living in North Thanet will be eligible to receive funding under the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme. [173911]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding reply 19 May 2004]: We are phasing in the EMA scheme nationally from September 2004, to successive 16 year old year groups. EMA will be available to students in North Thanet who are aged 16 at the start of the 2004/2005 academic year.
Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the impact of education maintenance allowances on benefits. [174856]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: This Department has worked closely with the Department for Work and Pensions in developing the English EMA scheme.
EMA will not affect other family benefits. It is specifically aimed at helping young people from lower income families to overcome barriers to further study caused by the costs of supporting students. EMA is paid
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in addition to other support provided by the Government, such as Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit. EMA will not affect Child Benefit.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence (a) he and (b) the Department of Trade and Industry have collated on the impact of education maintenance allowances on the national minimum wage for 16 year olds; and if he will make a statement. [174942]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Government submitted evidence to the Low Pay Commission on the possible introduction of a minimum wage rate for 16 and 17 year olds in December 2003. The evidence provided the Government with an opportunity to assess the interaction between a minimum wage for 16–17 year olds and incentives to participate in education and training, such as EMA.
This evidence can be accessed online at www.dti.gov.uk/er/nmw/index.htm
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make education maintenance allowances available to young people whose birthdays do not fall within the defined boundaries solely as a result of their being moved a year ahead at school. [174986]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Young people who have progressed a year at school and who are 15 when starting their further education are not eligible for EMA. The EMA scheme is targeted at those who reach compulsory school leaving age. To qualify for EMA under the national scheme a young person must reach the age of 16 between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2004 and enter full time education in the 2004/2005 academic year. In addition young people aged 17 and over who live in the 56 areas that have already piloted EMA will also be able to apply.
Maintenance Allowances
Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he made of the Education Maintenance Allowance pilot schemes before rolling them out nationally; and what changes were made to the scheme as a result of his conclusions. [174991]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: An independent evaluation of the education maintenance allowance scheme has been taking place since 1999. The evaluation has tested the effectiveness of the scheme in increasing participation. Evidence from the pilots shows that EMAs have increased the number of eligible young people in full time education in year 12 in pilot areas by 5.9 percentage points compared to the local authority areas without EMAs. EMAs have also increased participation by young people in Year 13 by 4.1 percentage points.
The evaluation has also assessed the comparative impact of different features and this has informed the development of the national scheme. The main changes are: that household income is assessed rather than parental income; that EMA payments are paid at three rates of £10, £20 or £30 dependent on the household income; the bonus payments are linked to retention and
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progression in learning rather than achievement of qualifications; and, that more young people can benefit from three years of support.
Medical Students
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2004, Official Report, columns 37–8W, on medical students, if he will list the factors taken into account in defining a broad range of social and ethnic backgrounds in respect of the criteria for the establishment of new medical schools; if he will break down the widening participation allocation by institution; and if he will make a statement on widening participation and the maintenance of standards of excellence in the medical profession. [175417]
Alan Johnson: The Government are absolutely committed to widening educational opportunities, not just in medicine but in higher education as a whole. We have always made it clear that admission to university must be on merit, based on the applicant's academic achievement and potential. It is important that universities, as autonomous bodies, ensure that their admission decisions are professional, fair and transparent.
In inviting bids to expand medical school places in September 2000, the Department of Health and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) asked institutions to provide data relating to the following factors pertaining to social and ethnic backgrounds: "A" Level grades of successful medical students and, where known, unsuccessful candidates; demographic profile of applicants and students admitted to medical schools over the last two years by race, gender, socio-economic group and proportion of students admitted straight from state school; and for institutions without existing medical students, the same information for related disciplines, especially healthcare students.
As my answer of 10 May explained, the HEFCE allocation for widening participation is broken down by institution in Table 1 of the HEFCE document "Recurrent Grants for 2004–05" (March 2004/12), a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library. Alternatively, the document can be accessed at http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2004/04 127/ on the internet.
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