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7 Mar 2006 : Column 1404W—continued
World Trade Organisation
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the European Commissioner for External Trade since the World Trade Organisation's trade talks in Hong Kong. [55331]
Mr. Thomas:
Neither I nor my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development have had any direct discussions with the Trade Commissioner
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since Hong Kong. However, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has discussed the prospects for a successful conclusion to the current round of trade negotiations and how to achieve it.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Academic Earnings
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual earnings of full-time members of the academic staff of universities in the West Midlands were in the last year for which figures are available. [55991]
Bill Rammell: The latest available figures are shown in the table:
(33) Average salary is derived from the gross basic salary per annum, in pounds sterling as stated in the contract at the reference date of HESA's staff count (July 31) or at the end date of the contract if earlier. It does not include any regular payments for additional duties, responsibility allowances or honoraria, regardless of their source. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
Source:
HESA staff record data 2004/05
Academies
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many cases of children excluded from academies have been referred to an independent educational tribunal for appeal since academies were introduced. [53911]
Jacqui Smith: This information is not collected centrally.
Active Citizenship
Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government are taking to promote active citizenship among young people. [53504]
Jacqui Smith:
Citizenship became a statutory subject in the National Curriculum in 2002. Promoting the development of skills of participation and responsible action is a fundamental part of the citizenship curriculum. Local education authorities and school governing bodies are now legally obliged to take account of guidance from the Secretary of State on consulting pupils when making decisions that affect them. Similarly, we have legislated to allow governing
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bodies to appoint young people as associate members. In addition, the Government are actively promoting school councils and mock elections in all schools, and encouraging schools to engage pupils as peer mentors and mediators. Young people are also engaged in the school inspection process as Ofsted now seek pupils' opinions when writing inspection reports. We are also funding the dissemination of guidance to help schools implement Active Citizens in Schools, which extends the principles of the successful Millennium Volunteers to 13 to 16-year-olds through citizenship lessons.
Adult Education
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been allocated to adult education in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) the area corresponding as closely as possible to Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each year since 1997. [45116]
Bill Rammell: The Department allocates funds for the post-16 education and training sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) working through 47 local offices. The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body within a framework set by Government. In 2001–02 the LSC spent £2,236 million on adult programmes including further education, work based learning, adult and community learning and other programmes. This increased to £2,427 million in 2002–03 and to £2,866 million in 2003–04. These figures are available from the LSC's published accounts. Figures for adult education for the years prior to 2001 are not comparable as the budget was split between a range of different organisations. My Department does not hold figures for adult education funding at local or regional levels. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 2 February 2006:
I write in response to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills referred to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) by Bill Rammell regarding the funding allocated to adult education in (a) England, (b) the Tees Valley and (c) the area corresponding as closely as possible to Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in each year since 1997.
Prior to the establishment of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in 2001 funding for further education in England was provided by the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC).
The FEFC allocated funding to a different cohort of providers using a different funding methodology to the LSC and therefore it is not possible for us to provide information on the funding allocated for adult education between 1997 and 2001.
I attach therefore a breakdown of the funding allocated by the LSC to FE providers in (a) England and (b) The Tees Valley from 2002/03–2005/06. It is not possible for us to provide figures for providers in the constituency areas you have requested because we do not have the detail of which providers are located with parliamentary constituencies. The figures show the total FE allocation for the academic year, the proportion of adult funding allocated and the percentage change.
Mr. Hands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funds have been made available in 2005–06 for adult education courses in the
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borough of Hammersmith and Fulham; and what percentage change this represents over the previous year. [45259]
Bill Rammell:
The Department does not hold figures for adult education funding at local or regional levels. The Department allocates funds for the post-16 education and training sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) working through 47 local offices. Some of the information you require is available on the LSC's website. The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body within a framework set by Government. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive has written to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
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Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 13 February 2006:
I write in response to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills referred to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) by Bill Rammell, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, regarding the funding allocated in 2005–06 for adult education courses in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the percentage change this represents over the previous year.
The LSC allocates funds for further education through the 47 Local learning and Skills Councils. The funds are allocated on an academic year basis.
The attached spreadsheet shows the total FE allocation and the proportion of funding allocated for adult education to FE providers in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It also shows the percentage change over the previous year. Overall the Borough had in excess of a 6% increase between 2004/05 and 2005/06 for FE provision. Of this, £208k was for adult education.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funds have been made available for adult education courses in (a) Coventry, South and (b) the West Midlands region in 2005–06; and how much was allocated in 2004–05 for those courses. [46880]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 1 February 2006]: In 2001–02 the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) spent £2,236 million on adult programmes including further education, work based learning, adult and community learning and other programmes. This increased to £2,427 million in 2002–03 and to £2,866 million in 2003–04. The Department does not hold figures for adult education funding at local or regional levels. The Department allocates funds for the post-16 education and training sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) working through 47 local offices. Some of the information about allocations for adult provision is available on the LSC's website. The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body within a framework set by Government. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive has written to my hon. Friend and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 1 March 2006:
I am writing to follow up the written answer given by the Minister of State, Bill Rammell, in response to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding funding for adult education courses in Coventry and the West Midlands.
I understand that you have recently met with Mike Bell, the Executive Director for Coventry and Warwickshire, and at that meeting you clarified the fact that your interest is in budgets for adults in general, not just those undertaking courses designated as adult education courses.
In the academic year 2004–05, the West Midlands was allocated a budget of £266.2m for adults. In addition, a further £38.8m was allocated to Additional Learner Support.
In the academic year 2005–06, the West Midlands was allocated a budget of £246.3m for adults, with an additional £40m for Additional Learner Support.
I am unable to give you specific figures for Coventry South, as we allocate funds to individual institutions, which do not confine their recruitment to only part of the city.
I can, however, tell you that in 2004–5 Colleges in Coventry as a whole were allocated £21.4m for adults, and £20.5m in 2005–06.
As a whole, Coventry and Warwickshire LSC was allocated £36.7m for adults in 2004–05, plus £6.6m for Additional Learner Support, and £36.6m in 2005–06, plus an additional £6.7m for Additional Learner Support.
Budgets are allocated to individual colleges and institutions based on their performance in previous years. Overall the LSC's budget has increased significantly since we were created in 2001 and has risen again this year. We welcome this increase in resources provided for post-16 learning by Government year-on-year but we also recognise that there will never be enough public money to meet all needs. Therefore we are seeking to encourage individuals and employers to engage in learning, but also make an appropriate contribution to the costs as I will explain below.
The reason for the slight drop in adult budgets between 2004–05 and 2005–06 is because of our focus on our priorities, as agreed with Government, We are committed to providing a place for every 16 to 18 year old, and Coventry and Warwickshire saw
- growth in participation by young people between 2004–05 and 2005–06. Our funding allocations to individual institutions in 2005–06 sought to recognise and address this achievement.
Our adult budgets are therefore increasingly focused on fully-funding those adults who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills—'Skills for Life'—and those who lack a first Level 2 qualification, without which entering the labour market is very difficult.
We continue to part-fund adults who already have a first level 2, and a wide range of Level 3 qualifications as our contribution to meeting skills needs at all levels.
We do, however, expect adults outside our fully-funded priority groups to make a contribution towards the cost of their learning as there will be beneficiaries economically. In 2005–06 we increased our expectations regarding the proportion of the cost of learning to be met by individual learners from 25%, where it had been fixed for some time, to 27,5%.
This increase in what we expect adults to pay will continue, by 2007–08 we expect adults to contribute 37.5% of the cost of learning. This will still mean that the public purse will subsidise 62.5% of the cost of adult learning, outside our fully-funded priority groups.
This clear focus of the LSC's resources on what we should fully-fund and part-fund is essential if we are to ensure that we make the greatest impact with public money, while encouraging others to recognise and invest in the true costs and benefits of learning.
I know that you are meeting Mike Bell again shortly for a briefing on Coventry and Warwickshire LSC's plans. Mike will be happy to go into more detail on both the policy issues and budget issues if you wish.
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