House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 9 Mar 2006 (pt 19)

9 Mar 2006 : Column 1703W—continued

Education Maintenance Allowance

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what steps are taken to verify financial details given by students applying for education maintenance allowances; [48933]

(2) how much has been spent on administration of education maintenance allowance in each year since the

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scheme was piloted; and how much is expected to be spent in each year until 2009–10; [48935]

(3) whether any further education institution which is in financial difficulty and whose students are eligible for education maintenance allowance is receiving extra funding to enable it to administer the scheme; [48937]

(4) what non-financial support is given to individual further education institutions in providing the education maintenance allowance; [48938]

(5) what measures are in place to ensure that studentsare awarded education maintenance allowance on a consistent basis, with particular reference to (a) attendance, (b) legitimate absence, (c) casual sickness and (d) transport difficulties. [48940]

Maria Eagle: These are matters for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate Education Maintenance Allowances for the DfES. Mark Haysom the Council's Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.

Education Provision (Hendon)

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many free part-time early education places were taken up by three and four-year-olds in Hendon in (a) 2005–06 and (b) 1997; and if she will make a statement. [56805]

Beverley Hughes: All four-year-olds have been entitled to a free early education place since 1998 and from April 2004 this entitlement was extended to all three-year-olds. The free entitlement consists of a minimum of five two and a half hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year for six terms before statutory school age, which is the term following their fifth birthday. This will increase to 38 weeks from 1 April 2006 and to 15 hours a week by 2010. By that time, parents who wish to do so will also be able to access the free entitlement flexibly across a minimum of three days.

Some local authorities may additionally offer subsidised child care places but this information is not collected centrally.

Figures for January 2005 show that all four-year-old children receive some form of free entitlement. The figure for three-years-olds is 96 per cent. This covers all maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers and represents 535,100 three-year-olds and 568,300 four-year-olds.

The available information on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Hendon parliamentary constituency area and Barnet local authority is shown in the tables.

The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 43/2005 Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2005 (final)" in September, which is available on my Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000604/index.shtml.

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Number of free nursery education places⁽¹⁸⁾ taken up by three and four-year-olds: Local authority-Barnet, position in January each year

3-year-olds
4-year-olds

Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽¹⁹⁾ Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽²⁰⁾ Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 4-year-olds

1997 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²²⁾3,500

1998 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²²⁾3,700

1999 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²²⁾3,800

2000 2,000 ⁽²³⁾0 2,000 ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²²⁾3,600

2001 2,000 ⁽²³⁾390 2,400 ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²¹⁾— ⁽²²⁾3,700

2002 1,900 ⁽²³⁾340 2,200 3,000 ⁽²²⁾590 3,600

2003 1,900 ⁽²³⁾1,300 3,100 2,900 ⁽²⁴⁾700 3,600

2004 1,800 ⁽²⁵⁾870 2,700 2,900 ⁽²⁶⁾580 3,500

2005 1,800 ⁽²⁵⁾1,500 3,300 3,000 ⁽²⁶⁾660 3,700

⁽¹⁸⁾Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
⁽¹⁹⁾Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽²⁰⁾Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽²¹⁾Not available.
5 Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
⁽²²⁾Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
⁽²³⁾Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽²⁴⁾Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽²⁵⁾Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.

Number of free nursery education places⁽²⁶⁾ taken up by three and four-year-olds: parliamentary constituency-Hendon, position in January each year

3-year-olds
4-year-olds

Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽²⁷⁾ Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers⁽²⁸⁾ Total
3-year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽²⁹⁾ Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers⁽³⁰⁾ Total
4-year-olds

2004 610 350 960 1,100 170 1,300

2005 530 660 1,200 1,100 250 1,300

⁽²⁶⁾Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
⁽²⁷⁾Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽²⁸⁾Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽²⁹⁾Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
⁽³⁰⁾Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.

	3-year-olds	4-year-olds
	Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽¹⁹⁾	Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers	Total 3-year-olds	Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽²⁰⁾	Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers	Total 4-year-olds
1997	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²²⁾3,500
1998	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²²⁾3,700
1999	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²²⁾3,800
2000	2,000	⁽²³⁾0	2,000	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²²⁾3,600
2001	2,000	⁽²³⁾390	2,400	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²¹⁾—	⁽²²⁾3,700
2002	1,900	⁽²³⁾340	2,200	3,000	⁽²²⁾590	3,600
2003	1,900	⁽²³⁾1,300	3,100	2,900	⁽²⁴⁾700	3,600
2004	1,800	⁽²⁵⁾870	2,700	2,900	⁽²⁶⁾580	3,500
2005	1,800	⁽²⁵⁾1,500	3,300	3,000	⁽²⁶⁾660	3,700

	3-year-olds	4-year-olds
	Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽²⁷⁾	Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers⁽²⁸⁾	Total 3-year-olds	Maintained nursery and primary schools⁽²⁹⁾	Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers⁽³⁰⁾	Total 4-year-olds
2004	610	350	960	1,100	170	1,300
2005	530	660	1,200	1,100	250	1,300

Changes in pupil figures may arise from changes to the underlying population in the local authority area and other factors. However, my Department doesn't publish population figures for individual age cohorts at sub-national level because of the unreliability of the underlying population estimates. The Office for National Statistics publish sub-national population estimates in five-year age bands.

Employer Training Pilots

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the Employer Training Pilot programmes. [56430]

Phil Hope: Employer Training pilots were introduced in September 2002 to encourage employers to train their low skilled employees. They tested a package of measures, including wage compensation for employers, to improve access to training and enable employees to attain basic skills (literacy, numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and/or their first,

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full Level 2 qualification). The number of pilot areas has been progressively increased and currently stands at 20 of the 47 LSC areas.

Evaluation findings have been largely positive. The evaluations undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies concluded that:

The pilots have been very successful in engaging employers and employees in training up to a first full Level 2. There are now over 236,027 learners and 28,281 employers signed up to ETPs and 123,687 have successfully completed their training. Employer and employee satisfaction levels are over 90 per cent.

Employers are attracted mainly by the free or heavily subsidised flexibly delivered training, and the services of the independent broker to help them identify the most suitable training and source it.

Employers felt that important benefits to taking part in ETP included boosting employees self confidence, employees gaining job related skills/qualifications and improved the quality of the organisations services or products.

Learners are attracted by the opportunity to obtain skills to do their job better and to gain a qualification.

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A separate evaluation by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which focused only on the first year of the pilots, identified that additionality was not as high as we would have hoped at that stage. The IFS report has pointed to the need to ensure better targeting of 'hard to reach' employers and be more rigorous in applying learner eligibility rules. We are confident that the position has improved since the first year of the pilots. We have also learnt important lessons from the pilots about the key factors motivating employers and learners to engage in training, and the best ways to adapt training provision to the needs and pressures of the workplace.

The pilots have been effective in encouraging more colleges and other training providers to deliver training more flexibly, for example on employer's premises or at a time and in a manner suited to their shift patterns. Providers have also been encouraged to tailor training to focus on the skills gaps identified through initial training needs assessments.

The Employer Training Pilots have therefore been wholly successful in enabling us to evaluate what is effective in engaging employers in training their low skilled employees and have been invaluable in informing the development of policy for Train to Gain, the new national employer training programme that will roll out from April 2006. Train to Gain will reach full national coverage in August 2006 and is central to the delivery of the demand led approach to training that is at the heart of the Government's Skills Strategy.

When fully operational Train to Gain will provide training to 350,000 learners from 50,000 employers per year. This should result in 175,000 first, full Level 2 qualifications each year. By 2009–10 it is expected that Train to Gain will have contributed over 500,000 first, full Level 2 achievements towards the Government's Level 2 targets.

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