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26 Oct 2004 : Column 1152W—continued

Sutherland Commission

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what submission the British Government have made to the Sutherland Commission. [191865]

 
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Mr. Alexander: Dr. Supachai, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), asked Peter Sutherland and a group of leading trade experts to examine possible reforms of decision-making and representation in the WTO and report back to him. The group has not requested submissions from Governments, and the UK has made none. The Government have set out their views on the issue in the recent Trade and Investment White Paper: Making Globalisation a Force for Good (Cm 6278).

Work Opportunities

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department is taking in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions and other Departments to encourage and enable the economically inactive to return to work through social enterprises; and if she will make a statement. [192020]

Nigel Griffiths: The cross Government strategy on social enterprise, published in July 2002 recognises the role social enterprise can play in offering work and training for those seeking employment.

Through New Deal, Job Centre Plus enables individuals to seek meaningful employment through social enterprise as a transitional phase before entering the open labour market or as an ongoing sustainable option.

Social enterprises can also offer employment opportunities for disabled people. The Department for Work and Pension's WORKSTEP programme offers help for those who require more long term support and aims to provide disabled people with a better range of opportunities in employment, by tailoring support to individual needs in supported environments, including social enterprise.

In DTI's Small Business Service, social enterprises are at the forefront of our forthcoming support to help people with mental health issues explore ways into employment or self-employment. Many social enterprises will act as partners in supporting mental health clients through the process, and it is envisaged that a number of new social enterprises will be created across the country as a direct result of this initiative.

DTI in partnership with DfES and the Home Office has piloted a Support for Enterprising Communities Project focussed on investigating approaches to supporting social enterprises to be more sustainable. The project resulted in a range of benefits including developing the skills of local people, a more diverse local social enterprise sector and creation of new employment opportunities.

We also think social enterprise can play a role in the delivery of ODPM's recent report on Jobs and Enterprise in Deprived Areas which contains measures to improve the delivery of support to those considering self-employment, such as through better joint work between the various relevant agencies, better availability of information and work to improve access to small-scale finance.
 
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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Archaeology Qualifications

Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the future of GCSE Archaeology following the decision taken by AQA not to offer this qualification from 2006. [193138]

Mr. Stephen Twigg [holding answer 21 October 2004]: I would refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (on 15 September 2004, Official Report, column 1606W). I must reiterate the point made by the Secretary of State in his answer that awarding bodies such as AQA are independent organisations and as such Ministers have no powers to dictate which subjects they offer.

Class Sizes

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average (a) primary school and (b) secondary school class size in the West Suffolk constituency was in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) 2003–04. [193667]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested is shown in the table.
Maintained primary and secondary schools⁽¹⁰⁾: average size of classes taught by one teacher⁽¹¹⁾ West Suffolk parliamentary constituency⁽¹²⁾

Position as at January each year	Number of pupils	Number of classes	Average class size
Primary
1997	5,730	220	25.7
2004	5,230	210	24.5
Secondary
1997	5,570	280	20.2
2004	6,130	280	22.0

⁽¹⁰⁾ Includes middle schools as deemed.
⁽¹¹⁾ Classes as taught during the one selected period in each school on the day of the census in January.
⁽¹²⁾ Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
Source:
Annual Schools' Census

Departmental Consultants

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much the Department spent on outside information technology and communication specialists, consultants and engineers in the 2003–04 financial year. [192763]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The amount of administrative expenditure incurred during 2003–04 financial year on outside information technology and communication specialists, consultants and engineers amounts to £2,290,000.

The Department also incurred Programme expenditure relating to the above but it would be a disproportionate cost to provide this information.
 
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Education Budget (York)

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget for (a) York College and (b) York Sixth Form College was in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in (A) 1997 and (B) each year since. [191242]

Dr. Howells: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC decides the funding allocations at individual college level. Information about these allocations is not collected by the Department. This is an operational matter and the responsibility of the LSC. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to my hon. Friend with details of the budget for (a) York
 
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College and (b) York Sixth Form College in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in (A) 1997 and (B) each year since. A copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Education Funding

Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the capital funding available to schools for (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03, (c) 2003–04, (d) 2004–05, (e) 2005–06 and (f) 2006–07, broken down by (i) devolved capital expenditure, (ii) Building Schools for the Future funding and (iii) specific capital programmes. [190910]

Mr. Miliband [holding answer 14 October 2004]: The table includes the information requested on the allocation of capital available to schools from 2001–02 until 2005–06. We have not yet announced details of allocation to capital programmes for 2006–07.
Capital funding £ million

	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06
(i) Devolved formula capital to schools	295	438	685	775	805
Delegated to local education authorities(13)	620	1,111	1,401	1,542	1,292
(ii) Building schools for the future					2,115
(iii) Specific capital programmes	1,402	1,755	2,117	2,455	1,294

⁽¹³⁾ Delegated allocations to authorities include Basic Need, Condition and Modernisation and School Access Initiative programmes.

Education Standards

Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of 11-year old pupils in Carlisle reached level 4 in (a) mathematics and (b) English in each of the last seven years. [191598]

Mr. Miliband: The information requested was placed in the House Library in response to Parliamentary Question 167566, on 10 May 2004, Official Report, column 34W.

First Degree Courses

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of the projected non-completion rate for full-time first degree students reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency which is accounted for by students transferring to different courses at the same institution. [191979]

Dr. Howells: HESA's non-completion rate has not been disaggregated to separately identify students who transfer to a different degree course and then fail to complete it. Students who transfer to a different degree course and successfully complete it are recorded under "Obtain a degree" in the following table; students who transfer from a degree to a different level of course (such as an HND) and successfully complete it are recorded under "Obtain other award". Only students who started a degree course and failed to obtain any HE qualification are classed as non-completers under "No award or transfer".
Projected outcomes, full-time first degree students starting courses in 2001/02

	Percentage
Obtain a degree	77.9
Obtain other award	1.2
Transfer to another institution	6.4
No award or transfer	14.1
Not known	0.4

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