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19 Mar 2007 : Column 684W—continued
In the first year of national roll-out, EMA was available to all 16-years-old across England and to 17 and 18-year-olds in former pilot areas. (Young people aged 19 were entitled to receive EMA in certain circumstances.) In 2005/06 EMA roll-out continued and EMA was available to all 16 and 17-year-olds nationally. In 2006/07 EMA is available to all 16, 17 and 18-year-olds nationally. In calculating the percentage of young people receiving EMA only take-up and population figures for age groups where EMA was available nationally have been used.
The following table shows the percentage of young people receiving EMA in Cumbria Local Authority area, the North West and England during each academic year since national roll-out.
| Percentage of population receiving EMA in each academic year | |||
| 2004/05( 1‘) | 2005/06( 2) | 2006/07( 3, 4) | |
| (1)16-year-olds only (2 )16 and 17-year-olds. (3 )16, 17 and 18-year-olds. (4) To end January. | |||
I hope this information is useful and addresses your question.
Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what percentage of young people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception; [122059]
(2) how many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK received (i) £30, (ii) £20 and (iii) £10 a week in education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception. [122060]
Phil Hope: The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a devolved matter. In England, this is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate EMA for the DFES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council’s chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend 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 122059 and 122060 that asked:
“What percentage of young people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception” and;
“How many people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK received (i) 30, (ii) 20 and (iii) 10 a week in education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception.”
EMA was piloted in 56 areas before launching the national scheme and South Tyneside local authority was a pilot area. The following data covers the start of the national roll out of EMA in the academic year 2004/05 and onwards.
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 South Tyneside local authority area, the North East and England during each academic year since national roll out.
| Take-up of EMA in each academic year | ||||
| 2004-05 | ||||
| Band | ||||
| £30 | £20 | £10 | Total | |
| 2005-06 | ||||
| Band | ||||
| £30 | £20 | £10 | Total | |
| 2006-07 to end January | ||||
| Band | ||||
| £30 | £20 | £10 | Total | |
In the first year of national roll out EMA was available to all 16-years-olds across England and to 17 and 18-years-olds in former pilot areas (young people who are 19 are entitled to receive EMA in certain circumstances). In 2005-06 EMA roll out continued and EMA was available to all 16 and 17-year-olds nationally. In 2006/07 EMA is available to all 16, 17 and 18-year-olds nationally. In calculating the percentage of young people receiving EMA only take up and population figures for age groups where EMA was available nationally have been used.
| Percentage of population receiving EMA in each academic year | |||
| 2004/05 (16-year-olds only) | 2005/06 (16 and 17-year-olds) | 2006/07 to end January (16, 17 and 18-year-olds) | |
Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students claimed the education maintenance allowance in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster in each of the last three years. [122789]
Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate EMA for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend 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 122789 that asked; “How many students claimed the Education Maintenance Allowance in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster in each of the last three years?”
The following table shows Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) take-up for Barnsley and Doncaster Local Authority areas during each academic year since the introduction of the allowance. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
| Take-up of EMA in each academic year | |||
| 2004/05 | 2005/06 | ( 1) 2006/07 | |
| (1) To end February | |||
I hope this information is useful and addresses your question.
Education: Guardian Newspapers
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how much was spent by his Department on the 14 to 19 reforms supplement it sponsored in The Guardian newspaper on 6 March; [127230]
(2) which civil servants within his Department contributed to the 14 to 19 reforms supplement in The Guardian newspaper on 6 March. [127231]
Jim Knight: The Department spent £42,000 on The Guardian Supplement covering the 14 to 19 reform programme. The 14 to 19 reforms will impact on a range of stakeholders and through the supplement we were able to inform head teachers, teachers and lecturers in schools and colleges, HE professionals, and the wider public about the reforms. We believe that this is good value for money as we were able to reach a large section of our target audience. As the 14 to 19 programme will require schools and colleges to collaborate in the future, and teaching of the diplomas will start from September 2008 we increasingly need to inform our target audiences about the reforms and the impact that they will have on them. We will therefore continue to promote the 14 to 19 reform programme across a range of news media over the next few months.
Although civil servants within the 14 to 19 reform group briefed The Guardian on the 14 to 19 reforms, the content of the supplement was written by Guardian journalists. As with most supplements of this nature officials from within the Department and across our partners were given the opportunity to correct factual errors within the final document. Final editorial control for the article was retained by The Guardian.
Employment Schemes: Greater London
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to open the Train to Gain project in London to contestability by the private sector; and if he will make a statement. [126581]
Phil Hope: Train to Gain is already contestable in London, as in all regions. This means that employers are given a choice of training providers, wherever possible, to help them meet their business needs on the basis of analysis carried out by brokers. Training providers may be sourced from the public or private sector.
Employment Schemes: Incentives
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure brokers under the Train to Gain programme are incentivised to arrange placements, rather than visits to employers which do not result in placements; and if he will make a statement. [126580]
Phil Hope: Train to Gain brokers are incentivised on the basis of employer engagements, rather than on visits. An employer is considered to be engaged where the broker has undertaken an analysis of training needs and identified suitable providers. The Learning and Skills Council is actively performance managing the organisations contracted to deliver the service to ensure their effectiveness and efficiency.
English Language
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which individuals are entitled to free tuition on Entry 1 and Entry 2 level English for Speakers of Other Languages Courses. [126633]
Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council sets out the eligibility criteria for fee remission in the funding guidance for further education, updated each year.
Currently all English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision is fully funded, with free tuition for all learners. From August 2007/08 it is proposed that in order to receive fee remission an ESOL learner must fall into standard fee remission categories, for example, that they are in receipt of an income based benefit such as housing benefit.
The fee remission categories are set out in paragraph 127 of the Funding guidance for further education in 2006/07 and include:
unemployed people in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance;
those in receipt of income-based benefits, formerly known as means-tested benefits, the main income-based benefits are council tax benefit, housing benefit, income support and jobseeker's allowance (income-based);
those in receipt of working tax credit with a household income of less than £15,050;
those in receipt of pension credits-guarantee credit;
the unwaged dependants (as defined by Jobcentre Plus) of those listed above.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding following the race equality impact assessment (REIA) and he is minded to consider a range of new measures to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
Reinstating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
Reinstating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for section 4 support;
Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council's Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether English for Speakers of Other Languages provision at Entry 1 and Entry 2 levels is eligible for funding from the Learning and Skills Council; and if he will make a statement. [126634]
Bill Rammell: All Skills for Life English for Speakers of Other Languages provision at Entry 1 and Entry 2 levels is currently eligible for funding from the Learning and Skills Council and will continue to be so for 2007/08.
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