---

15 Jul 2004 : Column 1243W—continued

UK Defence Industry (Foreign Ownership)

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the level of foreign ownership of the UK defence industry. [183351]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 14 July 2004]: The defence industry has changed significantly over the last decade through consolidation and globalisation. The industry is now dominated by a small number of very large companies that have the skills and expertise that are required to manage the largest and most complex defence programmes. In response to these global trends we made clear in our Defence Industrial Policy that the
 
15 Jul 2004 : Column 1244W
 
UK defence industry embraces all defence suppliers that create value, employment, technology or intellectual assets in the UK. This includes both UK and foreign owned companies. We welcome foreign direct investment as it can result in technology and innovation developed abroad being applied to domestic production. This enhances competition and competitiveness, significantly helping to develop the UK's high-value, and high-tech business environment. At the same time, UK defence companies continue to make substantial investments overseas.

Iraq

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what searches are under way in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction; and if he will make a statement. [184116]

Mr. Hoon: The search for evidence of Weapons of Mass Destruction and their associated programmes in Iraq is being undertaken by the Iraq Survey Group, a combined effort between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

The ISG has produced two interim reports so far, and a further substantial report is expected later this year. Links to the posted testimony for both reports can be found on the MOD UK Operation Telic website www.mod.uk

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Children in Care

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what monitoring his Department undertakes of the speed with which local authorities (a) submit care orders for processing through the courts and (b) transfer children in their care or custody into foster homes. [183260]

Margaret Hodge: It is for local authorities with social services responsibilities to determine the point at which an application is made to the court for an order under section 31 of the Children Act 1989. Each application will depend upon the unique circumstances of the individual case with which they are dealing. In some cases, it will be appropriate for an order to be sought immediately regarding a child with whom the local authority will not previously have had contact. In other cases, social services may have been involved with a family over many years before concerns arise that the section 31 threshold of significant harm has been crossed. In consequence, information on the time elapsed before the submission of care orders is not collected centrally.

Children entering local authority care are moved into a placement immediately. The majority of children entering care are immediately placed with foster carers. Of the 24,100 children who started to be looked after during the year ending 31 March 2003, 18,600 were initially placed with foster carers immediately.

Sexwise

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with
 
15 Jul 2004 : Column 1245W
 
local authorities in England and Wales on the distribution and display of Sexwise posters issued by primary care trusts. [184055]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Sexwise materials were developed following extensive consultation with young people and parents. No specific consultations were held regarding distribution and display arrangements. Sexwise materials can only be ordered by local teenage pregnancy co-ordinators and are issued with strict guidelines on their distribution.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list (a) primary care trusts and (b) local authorities which are displaying Sexwise safe sex posters. [184056]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: We do not collect data on which primary care trusts or local authorities are displaying Sexwise posters. Sexwise materials can only be ordered by local teenage pregnancy co-ordinators and are issued with strict guidelines on their distribution. This makes clear that they should not be used in schools, but can be displayed in other youth settings, such as young people's advice clinics.

Aimhigher Programme

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the objectives are of the Aimhigher programme; and how he plans to achieve them. [183622]

Alan Johnson: Aimhigher seeks to widen participation in higher education and increase the number of people, particularly young people, who have the abilities and aspirations to benefit from it. The objectives are to:

raise aspirations and motivation to enter HE among those young people in schools, further education and workplace learning, from under-represented groups;

raise the attainment of potential HE students who are from under-represented groups, so that they gain the academic or vocational qualifications and learning skills that will enable them to enter HE;

to strengthen progression routes into HE via vocational courses, including Modern Apprenticeships, whether they are delivered in schools, colleges or the workplace;

to raise students' aspirations to enter HE and apply to the institution and/or course best able to match their abilities; and

to improve the attainment, aspirations, motivation and self-esteem of gifted and talented young people aged 14–19; and the quality of identification, provision and support for those students in schools and colleges.

These objectives will be achieved by local school, university and college partnerships working together to raise aspirations and attainment of young people through activities such as masterclasses, summer schools, university visits, and the mentoring of young people by undergraduates.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff are employed on the Aimhigher programme. [183623]

Alan Johnson: Information on the number of people who are employed by Aimhigher partnerships is not held centrally. Regions and areas have taken different approaches to the employment of staff. In some areas, there are full time dedicated Aimhigher coordinators,
 
15 Jul 2004 : Column 1246W
 
while in others, Aimhigher is part of a jobholder's responsibilities. A number of staff in HE institutions, schools and colleges are also involved in the programme for part of their time, including those teachers and lecturers who deliver summer schools, masterclasses and other activities.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget is for the Aimhigher programme. [183624]

Alan Johnson: The budget for the new Aimhigher programme is £139 million for the academic year 2004–05. The budget for future years is being considered as part of the Spending Review.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which areas are included in the Aimhigher programme; and how they were chosen. [183625]

Alan Johnson: The White Paper "The Future of Higher Education" announced the bringing together of the Department's Excellence Challenge programme with Partnerships for Progression, an initiative funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), to create a new, national outreach programme called Aimhigher. The new programme will cover all areas of the country from August 2004, and will operate most intensively in disadvantaged areas.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what effect he anticipates the new regulations on tuition fees will have on the Aimhigher programme. [183626]

Alan Johnson: The measures contained in the Higher Education Act 2004, together with other elements of the new student support package, will support Aimhigher by ensuring that more able young people from disadvantaged backgrounds can access the financial help they need to take up higher education opportunities:

Up-front tuition fees will be abolished, and all full-time undergraduate students will be able to defer paying their fees until after they graduate;

Graduates will only start making repayments on their student loan once they are earning over £15,000 and then, at an affordable rate linked to their income, and outstanding loan amounts will be written off after 25 years;

Around 30 per cent. of students from less well off families will receive a minimum of £3,000 per year in grants and bursaries.

As a further safeguard, institutions will only be allowed to charge higher tuition fees if they have an Access Plan approved by the Director of the proposed Office for Fair Access. Access Plans will focus on what institutions are doing to encourage more people from less advantaged backgrounds to apply: they will have to say how they will provide bursaries and other financial support to students from lower income backgrounds.

Evidence shows that young people need clear information about the costs of higher education and the financial support available. Aimhigher seeks to raise awareness about, and understanding of, higher education opportunities and will play an important role in providing this information. Through the Aimhigher
 
15 Jul 2004 : Column 1247W
 
roadshow, summer schools and other Aimhigher-supported events, prospective students will have access to information about the costs of higher education and the new financial support package.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students have attended university as a result of the Aimhigher programme; which universities they went to; and how many students completed their course. [183627]

Alan Johnson: A number of factors influence a person's decision to enter higher education including their pre-entry qualifications, the availability of jobs, the influence of family and friends, and their involvement in attainment and aspiration raising activities such as those funded by Aimhigher and its predecessor programmes.

The national Aimhigher programme starts in August. The two predecessor programmes; the Department's Excellence Challenge, operational since September 2001, and Partnerships for Progression, run by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), operational since April 2003. It is too early to assess the impact on entry to Higher Education (HE), particularly since most activities involve young people aged 13 plus, many of whom will not yet have reached the applications stage.

However, there are early indications of a rise in applications in Excellence in Cities (EiC) areas where the Excellence Challenge programme operated. In Excellence in Cities areas, applications for 2003 entry were up 4.2 per cent. compared to 2002. Applications from non EiC areas were up only 1.6 per cent. in comparison. In 2003, university acceptances rose by 1.4 per cent. for applicants from EiC areas, compared to a decrease of 0.6 per cent. in non EiC areas.

---