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18 Jan 2006 : Column 1399W—continued

Education Working Groups

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what EU working groups deal with education. [43083]

Bill Rammell: There is one formal working group of the Council of the EU dealing with education, the Education Committee, which prepares for the Education Council. DfES officials attend this committee along with an official from the UK Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.

In addition to this there are a number of ad hoc expert groups set up by the European Commission as part of the Open Method of Co-ordination (a means of spreading best practice first set out in the Lisbon Council Conclusions of March 2002), principally under 'Education and Training 2010', the education strand of the Lisbon strategy. These groups are not formal Council working groups, are voluntary and assist the Commission to develop initiatives. Experts in this context may be expert officials from the particular government department or non-governmental experts appointed by Ministries or the Commission, depending on the remit of the group.

There is also an Advisory Committee on Vocational Training, attended by officials, which has a statutory basis: to advise the European Commission on any initiatives it takes in the field of vocational education and training. Directors General for both Vocational Training and Higher Education from the EU member states meet usually twice a year to discuss priorities in education and training.

Gershon Review

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on progress towards Gershon Review cost-cutting targets in her Department. [43085]

Bill Rammell: My Department reported progress towards our Gershon Review target in the Department's Autumn Performance Report. It will report further progress in the Departmental Annual Report which we expect to publish in April.

Graduation Statistics

Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of those (a) enrolling in and (b) obtaining (i) post-graduate and (ii) doctoral degrees in (A) 1995 and (B) 2005 attended (1) fee-paying secondary schools and (2) state-funded secondary schools. [41915]

Bill Rammell: The available information on the previous school type of students is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in
 
18 Jan 2006 : Column 1400W
 
Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK1. However, these figures cover undergraduate entrants only and corresponding information for postgraduates is not available.

The latest available information on the school background of higher education students covers young (aged under 21) first degree entrants, and is shown in the following table.
Proportion of UK domiciled young full-time first degree entrants to English Institutions from state schools and colleges

Academic year	Proportion from state schools and colleges
1997/98	81.0
1998/99	84.4
1999/2000	84.1
2000/01	85.0
2001/02	85.2
2002/03	86.4
2003/04	86.1

Source:
Performance Indicators in Higher Education" published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

Higher Education

Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of adults in England have completed higher education courses. [43078]

Bill Rammell: This data is not available precisely in the form requested.

In summer 2005 the Labour Force Survey estimates that 26.6 per cent. of working age people in England were qualified to level 4 or higher (higher education level). This equates to 8.2 million people of working age.

In the last academic year, 2004/05, 427,825 English domiciled students obtained higher education level qualifications at UK Higher Education institutions.

Respite Breaks

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what information she collects on the (a) availability and (b) demand for respite breaks for parents of disabled children; and if she will make a statement. [42775]

Maria Eagle: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect this information directly. The Department uses the Shared Care Network National Survey.

(a) The 2006 Shared Care Network survey (to be published later this year) identifies 128 short break schemes in the UK, with over 6,500 children using these services.

(b) The 1999 Shared Care Network survey found that 89 per cent. of schemes had a waiting list, with 3,736 children waiting for a service.

 
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Schools (Broadband Internet Access)

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools has broadband internet access (i) in England and (ii) local education authority. [39515]

 
18 Jan 2006 : Column 1402W
 

Phil Hope: A list of broadband internet connections to (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools within each local authority in England is attached at annex 1.

As at November 2005, 85 per cent. of schools (99 per cent. of secondary schools and 83 per cent. of primary schools) had access to broadband.
Annex 1: Broadband connections by local authority as at 30 November 2005

Local Authority	Number of secondary schools connected	Percentage of secondary schools connected	Number of primary schools connected	Percentage of primary schools connected
Cumbria	43	100	230	81
Lancashire	88	100	406	83
Bedfordshire	47	82	83	56
Cambridgeshire	31	100	205	100
Essex	80	100	215	45
Hertfordshire	82	100	415	99
Luton	12	100	42	69
Milton Keynes	12	100	91	100
Norfolk	52	100	338	88
Peterborough	14	100	59	100
Southend on Sea	12	100	37	100
Suffolk	78	100	92	36
Thurrock	10	100	46	100
Derby City	13	100	81	100
Derbyshire	49	100	229	64
Leicester City	16	100	49	57
Leicestershire	55	100	131	58
Lincolnshire	67	100	149	52
Northamptonshire	44	100	189	70
Nottingham City	19	100	58	57
Nottinghamshire	48	100	200	65
Rutland	4	100	9	53
Darlington	7	100	34	100
Gateshead	10	100	76	100
Hartlepool	6	100	30	100
Middlesbrough	8	100	43	100
North Tyneside	16	100	56	100
Redcar and Cleveland	11	100	50	100
South Tyneside	11	100	50	100
Stockton	16	100	64	100
Barking	9	100	50	100
Barnet	21	100	91	100
Bexley	15	100	61	100
Brent	15	100	59	100
Bromley	17	100	78	100
Camden	9	100	41	100
City of London	0	—	1	100
Croydon	25	100	92	100
Ealing	11	92	65	100
Enfield	16	94	66	100
Greenwich	16	100	64	100
Hackney	8	100	55	98
Hammersmith	9	100	36	97
Haringey	11	100	60	92
Harrow	10	100	55	100
Havering	18	100	66	100
Hillingdon	17	100	46	72
Hounslow	14	100	61	100
Islington	9	100	43	98
Kensington and Chelsea	4	100	27	100
Kingston	10	100	11	30
Lambeth	12	100	61	100
Lewisham	12	100	68	100
Merton	8	100	42	100
Newham	15	100	65	100
Redbridge	17	100	51	100
Richmond on Thames	8	100	9	22
Southwark	12	100	69	96
Sutton	14	100	41	100
Tower Hamlets	16	100	71	100
Waltham Forest	19	100	60	100
Wandsworth	11	100	55	100
Westminster	8	100	40	100
Blackburn with Darwen	9	100	33	56
Blackpool	8	100	32	100
Bolton	16	100	8	8
Bury	14	100	22	35
Cheshire	46	100	214	75
Halton	8	100	38	73
Knowsley	11	100	59	100
Liverpool	33	100	148	100
Manchester	23	100	139	100
Oldham	15	100	51	64
Rochdale	14	100	75	100
Salford	14	100	82	99
Sefton	22	100	90	100
St. Helens	11	100	57	98
Stockport	14	100	100	99
Trafford	16	89	71	97
Warrington	12	100	74	100
Wirral	21	95	98	97
Bracknell Forest	6	100	30	100
Brighton and Hove	9	100	55	98
Buckinghamshire	34	100	104	56
East Sussex	27	100	152	97
Hampshire	69	97	428	97
Isle of Wight	21	100	46	100
Kent	104	100	298	63
Medway	19	100	90	100
Portsmouth	10	100	54	100
Reading	7	100	37	100
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead	13	100	46	100
Slough	11	100	27	100
Southampton	14	100	63	100
Surrey	53	100	320	100
West Berkshire	10	100	45	66
West Sussex	39	98	182	75
Wokingham	9	100	52	100
Banes	13	100	51	75
Bournemouth	10	100	27	100
Bristol	17	100	77	65
Cornwall	31	100	200	83
Devon	37	100	243	78
Dorset	34	100	96	70
Gloucestershire	42	100	226	90
North Somerset	10	100	42	65
Plymouth	17	100	79	100
Poole	9	100	29	100
Somerset	39	100	186	83
South Gloucestershire	14	100	96	100
Swindon	10	100	67	100
Torbay	8	100	31	94
Wiltshire	29	91	207	96
Birmingham	76	100	311	100
Coventry	19	100	86	100
Dudley	22	100	82	100
Sandwell	18	100	101	100
Solihull	13	100	56	82
Walsall	20	100	94	100
Wolverhampton	19	100	82	100
Staffordshire	73	100	214	69
Stoke	17	100	74	100
Herefordshire	14	100	83	99
Worcestershire	49	84	91	47
Shropshire	22	100	143	100
Telford and Wrekin	14	100	66	100
Warwickshire	37	100	146	73
Calderdale	14	93	63	74
Doncaster	17	100	55	53
East Riding of Yorkshire	18	100	132	98
Kingston-upon-Hull	15	100	77	100
Kirkless MBC	34	100	79	52
North East Lincolnshire	12	100	56	95
North Lincolnshire	14	100	47	72
North Yorkshire	47	100	235	71
Rotherham	16	100	105	97
Sheffield	27	100	122	87
Wakefield	18	100	125	100
Northumberland	59	100	72	51
Oxfordshire	34	100	233	100
Leeds	41	100	221	98
Newcastle	18	100	72	100
Wigan	21	100	108	100
Bradford	28	100	159	100
York	11	100	54	100
Durham	36	100	221	92
Sunderland	18	100	84	100
Tameside	18	100	76	100
Barnsley	14	100	84	99

 
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