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3 Mar 2006 : Column 993W—continued
Uranium
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the natural sources of uranium, broken down by country; and what the expected life is of that supply. [52588]
Malcolm Wicks:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency has published a report examining uranium production—"Uranium 2003: Resources, Production
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and Demand"—which includes a list of sources of uranium by country. This list will be placed in the Libraries of the House. Please refer to the report for full reporting methodology.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Care Support Services
Ed Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average age of children leaving care was in (a) Wakefield district and (b) Normanton constituency in (i) 2004 and (ii) 2005. [51944]
Beverley Hughes: Information on the average age of children who ceased to be looked after by Wakefield metropolitan borough council is shown below. This information is not collected centrally at district or constituency level.
(10) Data for 2004–05 are provisional
(11) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10
(12) Figures are rounded to the nearest 100
Source:
DfES
Child Care
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places have (a) opened and (b) closed since 2003. [51371]
Beverley Hughes [holding answer 13 February 2006]: The numbers of child care places opening and closing since 2003, drawn from Ofsted's registration data, for England are shown in the following table:
| Places opening | Places closing | Net growth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2003–March 2004 | 238,596 | 128,350 | 110,246 |
| April 2004–March 2005 | 254,126 | 187,245 | 66,881 |
| April 2005–September 2005 | 113,703 | 73,460 | 40,243 |
Employer Training Pilots
Kelvin Hopkins:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many of the companies who participated in the employer training pilots in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06 employed (i) under 50
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staff, (ii) between 50 and 249 staff and (iii) 250 or more staff; and how many were in the (A) public and (B) private sector. [51638]
Phil Hope: The information requested is not held centrally by the Department, but is collected by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Mark Haysom has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of his response will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 1 March 2006:
I am writing in response to your recent parliamentary question which has been referred to me, concerning employer participation in the Employer Training Pilot in 2004–05 and 2005–06.
The Employer Training Pilot supports employers by providing assistance and funding to train lower skilled employees, so they may achieve basic skills and NVQ Level 2 qualifications in a variety of vocational areas. The numbers of participating employers for each calendar year, broken down into each size band, is shown in the following table.
Higher Education (East Lancashire)
Kitty Ussher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the future higher education needs of East Lancashire; and if she will make a statement. [54653]
Bill Rammell: I recently visited East Lancashire and listened to a progress report from the Higher Education East Lancashire (HEEL) group. Further development of higher education provision in East Lancashire would clearly be welcome, and is consistent with Government policy. Any public funding for this development would come through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and I understand that the HEEL group is involving HEFCE in its discussions.
Hillingdon Education Authority
John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the additional costs falling upon Hillingdon education authority from Heathrow airport. [47069]
Jacqui Smith: Hillingdon does not receive additional funding specifically because Heathrow airport is in its local education authority area.
Nevertheless, the current revenue funding formula recognises that Hillingdon has well above the average numbers of children from ethnic minority families and has well above the average costs of recruiting and
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retaining staff. In 2005–06 its SFSS allocation was £3,679 per pupil: the 28th highest allocation in the country. In addition, it was allocated £1,081,611 of Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant.
On capital, we are aware of the problems of aircraft noise in schools near the airport. The Department provides significant capital resources which can be used for noise reduction, where that is a local priority. Hillingdon and its schools are receiving over £50 million across the three years 2005–06 to 2007–08. I also understand that BAA recently set up a voluntary compensation scheme which covers schools affected by airport developments in circumstances where the noise levels are over 63 dBA (16 hours time-averaged level). The total fund made available by BAA amounts to £5 million a year.
Keith Hudson
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what date the case of Keith Hudson was referred to her Department for a List 99 determination; and on what date it was decided. [43408]
Ruth Kelly: The case of Keith Hudson was referred to this Department on 1 June 1998 and decided on 24 August 2001.
Student Loans
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the student loan book nominal value for outstanding loans for living and fee support (a) in (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 2005–06 and (b) by 2007–08. [54564]
Bill Rammell: The student loan book nominal value for outstanding loans for maintenance and fee support for England and Wales students at the end of 2004–05 was £13.6 billion and is estimated to be around £16 billion by the end of 2005–06; and around £24 billion by the end of 2007–08.
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was provided by her Department to EU students through student loans in 2004–05. [53118]
Bill Rammell: In the academic year 2004/05, student loans for living costs were not available to EU nationals except in very limited and specific circumstances: European Economic Area migrant workers in the UK; or those who had lived in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period before the start of their course. These students were also eligible to apply for tuition fee support. We estimate that the number of such students is very small.
In the same academic year, EU nationals studying in the UK were eligible for tuition fee support on the same basis as home students under Article 12 of the EC Treaty which requires that EU nationals are not discriminated against on grounds of nationality with regard to fees. The public contribution to tuition fees for these students studying in England and Wales in academic year 2004/05 was £17.3 million.
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