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27 Feb 2007 : Column 1236W—continued
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which apprenticeship and advanced apprenticeship frameworks (a) do and (b) do not stipulate a technical certificate as a mandatory requirement. [123394]
Phil Hope: All apprenticeship frameworks approved for funding by the Learning and Skills Council at both Level 2 and Level 3 must contain elements to cover both competence and underpinning knowledge for that occupation. This can be delivered either through a separately assessed off the job technical certificate or can be integrated into delivery and assessment of the National Vocational Qualifications.
Children: Mental Health Services
Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will break down the number of children in care receiving support from mental health services by age group. [119825]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
Information is not available in the format requested. The 2005 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) mapping found that during the data collection period (October 2005 to February 2006) 9,745 looked after children received help from CAMHS. This represents 9 per cent. of the total CAMHS caseload, and 16 per cent. of the number of children looked after.
Departments: Appeals
Mr. Laws:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many independent bodies existed to hear appeals on decisions made by his Department and its executive agencies in (a) 1997-98,
(b) 2001-02 and (c) 2005-06; and (d) how many there were in 2006-07 to date. [121681]
Mr. Dhanda: The information requested is as follows.
(a) In 1997-98 there was one independent body which heard appeals on decisions made by the then Department for Education and Employment and its executive agencies. The Independent Schools Tribunal heard appeals against the withdrawal of the registration of independent schools.
In October 2000 the Education (Restriction of Employment) Regulations 2000 introduced an appeals system for individuals who the Secretary of State had prohibited or restricted from employment in education establishments on grounds of misconduct or health and these were heard by the Protection of Children Act Tribunal.
(b) In 2001-02 there were therefore two independent bodies hearing appeals on decisions made by the Department for Education and Skills. The Department had no executive agencies.
In April 2002 the Protection of Children Act Tribunal was subsumed into the Care Standards Tribunal (CST). The machinery of government changes in June 2003 moved the responsibility for all children and family policy to the Department. Appeals against the inclusion of individuals' names on the list of those considered unsuitable to work with children (the PoCA list) were subject to appeal by the CST. In September 2003 the Independent Schools Tribunal was absorbed into the CST.
(c) and (d) In 2005-06 and 2006-07 to date, there has been one independent body which heard appeals on decisions made by the Secretary of State. The Department has no executive agencies.
The CST is therefore the appeals body for decisions of the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in respect of the:
inclusion of individuals’ names on the list of those considered unsuitable to work with children (the PoCA list);
restriction or prohibition from teaching, acting as proprietor of independent schools and employment in schools /further education institutions;
registration of independent schools.
Departments: Complaints
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many complaints were received by his Department and its Executive agencies in (a) 1997-98, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2005-06; and how many have been received in 2006-07 to date. [121680]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department for Education and Skills does not keep a central record of complaints and to gather these data would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff worked in dedicated complaints units in his Department and its Executive agencies in (a) 1997-98, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2005-06; and how many have done so in 2006-07 to date. [121682]
Mr. Dhanda: The Department for Education and Skills does not have a dedicated complaints unit. Most complaints are received by the Department’s public communications unit and allocated to the most suitable official within the Department; normally the line manager of an individual being complained about or the senior manager with responsibility for the policy area. No staff are involved in full-time complaints handling.
Foster Care: Safety
Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the provisions in the Children's Act 2004 to ensure the safety of children who are privately fostered. [121043]
Mr. Dhanda: The new measures in the Children Act 2004 and the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005, strengthened the private fostering notification scheme which was introduced under the Children Act 1989. These measures came into effect in July 2005. The Government have agreed that, at a suitable point during the lifetime of the new provisions, they will publish a report on the impact of the new measures in the Act, including an indication of whether the Government are minded to move towards a registration scheme. Sections 45 and 47 of the Children Act 2004 make provisions which allow the Government to introduce a registration scheme in England at any point within four years of the Act receiving Royal Assent. The report will therefore be prepared and published in time for Parliament to consider the matter by November 2008.
Foundation Degrees
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2007, Official Report, column 801W, on foundation degrees, whether he met (a) the Higher Education Funding Council for England, (b) the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, (c) Universities UK, (d) the Russell Group of universities, (e) the 1994 Group of Universities, (f) the Campaign for Modern Universities, (g) the Association of Colleges and (h) the 157 Group of college principals to discuss Clause 19 of the Further Education and Training Bill prior to the publication of the Bill. [117005]
Bill Rammell [holding answer 19 January 2007]: Sir Andrew Foster's report into the future role of further education colleges, published in November 2005, recommended that
“consideration should be given to allowing some colleges, that meet quality criteria the ability to award their own qualifications, rather than working through awarding bodies”.
Prior to the publication of the Further Education and Training Bill, departmental officials discussed how these proposals might be taken forward from the Quality Assurance Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The views of the Association of Colleges and other representative bodies from the further education sector were also taken. The Department then launched a written consultation on November 2006, and in response
received over 30 written submissions on the proposals from a wide range of stakeholder bodies. There have been numerous discussions about the proposals too. The representations we have received have been instrumental in modifying the proposals of Clause 19 to ensure that the views of the further and higher education sectors, and other interested parties, are taken into account.
Further Education: Eastbourne
Mr. Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people over the age of 60 years were enrolled in (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) vocational and (ii) non-vocational courses in colleges of further education in Eastbourne in 2005-06. [120569]
Phil Hope: The information requested is not yet available for Eastbourne for 2005/06; but will be available in approximately six weeks. Consequently, the information provided as follows is for Sussex and England.
In 2005/06, there were some 3,900 Learning and Skills Council funded learners aged over 60 in Sussex; of these, 2.4 per cent. were full-time learners and 97.6 per cent. were part-time learners. There were 147,100 Learning and Skills Council funded learners aged over 60 in England. Of these, 1.5 per cent. were full-time learners and 98.5 per cent. were part-time learners. There is no precise definition of what constitutes a vocational or non-vocational course in colleges of further education.
Higher Education: Admissions
Mrs. Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children leaving full-time education in (a) all North East constituencies and (b) the rest of the UK went on to a place at university in each of the last five years. [123429]
Bill Rammell: The latest available figures on participation in higher education by constituency were published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England in January 2005 in “Young Participation in England”, which is available from their website at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_03/
This report shows participation rates for young people who enter higher education aged 18 or 19, disaggregated by region, for the years 1997 to 2000. The figures for North East region, and the comparable
figure for England, are shown in the table. HEFCE have not produced participation rates beyond 2000.
| Young Participation Rate (YPR (A)) in higher education( 1) for year cohort aged 18 | |||
| Cohort for North East region( 2) | Young Participation Rate (A) for North East region( 3 ) (percentage) | Young Participation Rate (A) for England (percentage) | |
| (1) Covers all students studying higher education courses at UK higher education institutions and other UK institutions, for example further education colleges (2) Cohorts are reported to the nearest 100. (3) Young Participation Rates for constituencies are reported to the nearest percentage. Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England. | |||
The total number of entrants from the North East region for each year since 2001/02 are given in the following table:
| UK domiciled entrants aged 18 to undergraduate courses at all UK higher education institutions | ||
| Academic year | North East region | Rest of UK |
| Note: Figures are on a HESA Standard Registration Population basis and are rounded to the nearest 5. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). | ||
The Department uses the higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) to assess progress on increasing first-time participation of English students aged 18 to 30 in higher education towards 50 per cent: the latest provisional figure for 2004/05 is 42 per cent. The HEIPR is not calculated at regional level.
Higher Education: Student Numbers
Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications to universities were made in each academic year from 1997 to 2007, broken down by ethnic group. [122404]
Bill Rammell: The available information is as follows. The figures are taken from data collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) which are limited to students who apply to full-time first degree courses via the UCAS application system. The figures do not therefore cover part-time students nor those full-time students who apply directly to higher education institutions.
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