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19 Mar 2007 : Column 678W—continued
Education and Skills
Advertising
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department spent on advertising with The Guardian newspaper, including online, in the last year for which figures are available. [114072]
Alan Johnson: Newspaper advertising for the Department is done via the Central Office of Information (COI) and the information provided covers all newspaper advertising. The COI does not hold information specifically on advertising space in The Guardian newspaper.
The total spent by the Department on all newspaper advertising, across a number of different campaigns, using different newspapers is:
2005-06
£1.50 million
Apprentices
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people who passed the complete framework for (a) apprenticeships and (b) advanced apprenticeships also achieved a technical certificate as part of their apprenticeship course in each year between 1997 and 2006. [127429]
Phil Hope [holding answer 14 March 2007]: These data are not held in the form specified. The data collected measure those who complete all elements required of the particular framework undertaken. However, since 2001 separately assessed underpinning knowledge has been a compulsory part of apprenticeship frameworks. Up to 2005 this had to take the form of a technical certificate, even where there was duplication of content between qualifications. Therefore all apprentices completing in this period would have passed a technical certificate in order to complete the full framework. Since 2005 and following consultation, sector bodies have had the flexibility to deliver underpinning knowledge through an NVQ where it can be demonstrated to the Apprenticeship Approvals Group that this will remove duplication. So far the two major frameworks to integrate underpinning knowledge into the NVQ are in accountancy and hairdressing. Most of their learners will not yet have completed under the new arrangements.
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department makes available for those over the age of 25 years for apprenticeships. [127586]
Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has announced funding for 8,000 apprenticeship places for people over the age of 25 in 2007-08 at a cost of £16.7 million.
Art: Education
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the funding levels for fine art courses in (a) further education, (b) work-based learning, (c) adult and community learning and (d) sixth form colleges were in each year from 1997 to 2006; and what the budgeted levels of funding are in each of the next three years. [127444]
Bill Rammell:
We have increased investment in further education by 48 per cent. in real terms between 1997 and 2005. Adult funding will increase by 7 per
cent. between 2005-06 and 2007-08 with funding for young people increasing by 13 per cent. over the same period. This means that overall in 2007-08 through the LSC we will invest £11.2 billion, an increase of £716 million compared with 2006-07.
Information on course subjects that learners are undertaking is available only from the LSC at the broad sector level. This does not allow for discrete subjects such as fine art to be identified, and therefore it is not possible to provide details on the level of funding for these courses.
As the Department has not yet received it Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) settlement, I am not in a position to announce the funding levels for specific programmes during the CSR period.
Compensation Payments
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much in compensation payments was paid by his Department in 2005-06; and what the reason was for each payment. [108199]
Mr. Dhanda: Compensation payments made by the Department in 2005-06 were as follows:
Departmental Hospitality
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his Department's expenditure was on hospitality and entertainment in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2005-06. [114068]
Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s answer of 9 February 1998, Official Report, column 17W, to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire, which provides the global figure for Government expenditure on ministerial entertaining and hospitality for official purposes in 1996-97.
The Department for Education and Skills’ expenditure on entertainment by civil servants for 1996-97 was £24,000.
The Department's expenditure covering civil servants’ as well as ministerial costs on entertainment for 2005-06 was £20,000.
Departmental Staff
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff were employed on a consultancy basis in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies in each of the last five years for which information is available; and what the (i) average and (ii) longest period was for which a consultant was employed in each year. [102979]
Mr. Dhanda: The number of consultants engaged by the Department is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) marketing officers, (b) communication officers, (c) press officers and (d) promotional officers are employed in his Department; and what estimate he has made of the total expenditure on communications for the Department on (i) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (ii) other (A) press officers, (B) special advisers and (C) staff in the last year for which figures are available. [104223]
Alan Johnson: The number of staff involved in communications as at 1 March 2007 is as follows:
| Number | |
It is not possible to break down expenditure by types of communications staff. There are no special advisers in the communications function.
The total amount spent on advertising in 2005-06 was £8.3 million. This includes radio, TV and press advertising and is exclusive of VAT.
Departmental Travel
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his Department's expenditure on foreign travel, including accommodation, was in (a) 1996-97 and (b) 2005-06. [114069]
Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s answer on 19 December 2006, Official Report, column 1808W, to a similar question from the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire, which refers to the published annual list of overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers which includes the overall cost of all Ministers’ overseas travel.
The Department for Education and Skills’ expenditure on civil servants’ foreign travel, including accommodation is set out in the following table. The figures are taken from the Department's financial systems.
| Expenditure on foreign travel (£000) | |
Departments: Discrimination
Mr. O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department has undertaken to ensure the implementation of age discrimination regulations across his Department. [127587]
Mr. Dhanda: Equality of opportunity for all is of paramount importance within the Department and my officials have been pro-active in ensuring the age discrimination regulations are adhered to. In light of this the Department has considered and reviewed all the HR policies and processes that were in place prior to the implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. That review led to us introducing, from 1 October 2006, a policy where we have no maximum retirement age for people outside the senior civil service, and procedures where there is no mention of a date of birth on applications, for example, for recruitment or promotion.
Furthermore the Secretary of State and the Learning and Skills Council have both been involved in drawing the attention of the FE sector to the age legislation through correspondence with FE governing bodies and by issuing guidance to learning providers. Higher education institutions have been supported in this area by the Equality Challenge Unit, which is the sector body responsible for providing advice and guidance on equality issues to these bodies.
Departments: Electronic Government
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason an individual must be at least 19 years of age to register with his Department's e-consultation website. [126912]
Phil Hope: Access to the Department's e-consultation website is open to all, whether or not they are registered with the site, and young people under 19 are able to participate in our e-consultations. Registration only means that the site retains individuals’ details, enabling them to receive e-mail alerts about future consultations and giving the flexibility to partially complete a consultation and then return to it at a later date.
Registration is limited to those aged 19 and over in order to ensure that personal data about children and young people is not held on the website, in compliance with the Data Protection Act. The system neither asks for, nor retains, any identification information from non registered users.
The Department actively encourages children and young people to participate in consultation and engage with the Department, often producing young people's versions of consultation questionnaires. A recent example of this was the Young People's Guide to the Care Matters Green Paper in 2006; over 1,000 young people and children gave an input to this consultation.
Education Maintenance Allowance
David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of young people in (a) Penrith and The Border constituency, (b) Cumbria, (c) the North West and (d) England received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception; and how many received (i) £30, (ii) £20 and (iii) £10 a week in each case in each year. [124005]
Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the DfES and hold the information about take-up and payments made under the scheme. 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.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 12 March 2007:
I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question 124005 that asked: "What percentage of young people in (a) Penrith and The Border constituency, (b) Cumbria, (c) the North West and (d) England received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception; and how many received (i) £30, (ii) £20 and (iii) £10 a week in each case in each year."
Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at Local Authority Level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
The following tables show EMA take-up data split by payment band for Cumbria Local Authority area, the North West and England during each academic year since the scheme's inception.
| Take-up of EMA in each academic year | ||||
| Band | ||||
| £30 | £20 | £10 | Total | |
| (1 )To end February. | ||||
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