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23 Mar 2007 : Column 1204W—continued
Constitutional Affairs
Postal Voting
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Government have any further plans to conduct polls wholly by postal vote. [129422]
Bridget Prentice: The Department has no plans to conduct polls wholly by postal vote.
Correspondence
Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when she expects the Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs; the hon. and learned Member for Redcar (Vera Baird) to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 18 January 2007 (Ref:83269/231), on legal aid. [129379]
Vera Baird: I replied to the hon. Member on 22 March. I apologise for the delay.
Reports
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the Government expects to respond to (a) the eleventh report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and (b) the report of the Electoral Commission dated 19 March 2007. [129438]
Bridget Prentice: In respect of the Government’s response to the eleventh report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 30 January 2007, Official Report, column 234W, to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald). The report of the Electoral Commission dated 19 March is the Commission’s response to the CSPL’s report. The Government will take this and responses from other stakeholders into account in considering the recommendations of the CSPL.
Education and Skills
Adult Education: Barnet
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what change is being made in Barnet college's grant for adult training; how many placements at Barnet college have been made by brokers through the train to gain institution; and if he will make a statement. [126582]
Bill Rammell: We have increased investment in further education by 48 per cent. in real terms between 1997 and 2005. We are spending more on adult learning that ever before, over £3 billion in 2007-08, up 7 per cent. on 2005-06,
In 2007-08, investment in our new national employer programme, train to gain will increase by £300 million to £460 million between 2005-06 and 2006-07. Nearly 150 colleges and nearly 200 training providers successfully bid for train to gain contracts in 2006-07. FE allocations and train to gain together will offer 82 per cent. of all colleges the opportunity to earn more than in 2005-06, with 45 per cent. earning 5 per cent. or more.
Information on the impact on individual colleges and train to gain performance data are not held centrally by the Department but Mark Haysom, as the chief executive of the Learning and Skills Council, has written directly to my hon. Friend with answers to these questions, A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 21 March 2007:
I am writing in response to your question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, about what change is being made in Barnet college's grant for adult training; how many placements at Barnet college have been made by brokers through the train to gain institution; and if he will make a statement.
The 19+ adult allocations for 2007-08 for any provider have yet to be agreed however the following allocations were made in the last two academic years:
2005-06 Barnet college was allocated £14,759,408 for 19+ learners
2006-07 Barnet college was allocated £14,525,033 for 19+ learners
2007-08 allocations for 19+ learners have yet to be agreed.
Barnet college does not directly engage with train to gain but operates as a sub-contractor for two other lead contractors—four counties training and the college of North East London. The data therefore is a combined total for the two as all operational data goes through the consortia leads.
Skills Brokers identify learners within an organisation—some of which may be funded by train to gain discrete funding but others who may not—for instance those learners who already have a Level 2 or equivalent qualification would not be eligible for full subsidy. However the learners with a Level 2 would still be able to access training either at full cost or via further education mainstream funding with the employer making an appropriate contribution to costs. Therefore the skills broker will estimate what level of learners may be “Train to Gain” but the employer's choice of provider will then identify specifically eligibility.
Therefore from August 2006 to January 2007 skills brokers identified 510 learners who may have been eligible to the two consortia leads out of which 160 have actually started provision under train to gain discrete funding. However this is a dynamic process many of the 510 could still be being assessed and preparing to enter train to gain discrete provision or other provision and certainly there are increases in activity as the service gains momentum therefore these figures are probably underestimates.
I hope this response is helpful to you.
Employment Schemes: Greater London
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many visits to employers have been made by brokers promoting the Train to Gain programme in London; how many people have been placed as a result of those visits; whether brokers are paid on the basis of (a) visits to employers and (b) placements achieved; how much has been paid to brokers; and if he will make a statement; [126583]
(2) what progress has been made in London with the Train to Gain programme; and if he will make a statement. [126584]
Phil Hope: Detailed Train to Gain performance data are not held centrally by the Department but are collected by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Mark Haysom, as the LSC chief executive, has written directly to my hon. Friend with answers to these questions, A copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 21 March 2007:
I am writing in response to your Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many visits to employers have been made by brokers promoting the Train to Gain programme in London; how many people have been placed as a result of those
visits; whether brokers are paid on the basis of (a) visits to employers and (b) placements achieved; how much has been paid to brokers.
Skills Brokers in the London Region have made 2,436 engagements with employers from August 2006 to January 2007. Some of these engagements would be via telephone as opposed to a visit but would be some form of meaningful discussion beyond simple contact. Out of these engagements 1,548 are designated as “Hard to Reach” being employers defined as those without Investors in People recognition and have not invested in any vocational training leading to a qualification within the last 12 months.
Train to Gain Skills Brokers in London have made approximately 15,500 individual learner referrals to date for all types of learning provision including some at full cost to the employer as well as that funded by the LSC. Out of those individual learner referrals approximately 5,000 are related to Level 2 provision. This is a dynamic process and placement of these learners is ongoing. The Train to Gain service is still within its initial launch stage and evaluation of conversions from referrals to learners starting programmes is taking place to identify lessons learned and good practice.
Skills Brokers in London have been paid a total of £2.5 million to date, The cost of each employer engagement averages approximately £670.
This would include activity such as initial marketing, visits, organisational needs analysis, identifying development opportunities and solutions for the business, sourcing training provision possibly across a range of providers, ongoing monitoring of both the business relationship and learner progress and maintaining contact for potential repeat business and support for the future.
I hope this response is helpful to you.
Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 21 March 2007:
I am writing in response to your question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, about what progress has been made in London with the Train to Gain programme.
The Train to Gain service in London has enabled 4,534 learners to start LSC funded provision directly linked to Train to Gain. There have been discussions and referrals to many other organisations in addition to these learners. 1,548 employers have been actively engaged in discussions about developing their staff where this had not occurred within at least the last twelve months—probably longer This has been achieved in only 6 months of the Skills Brokerage service being launched and the increase in activity has been considerable. Therefore it is confidently anticipated to make an increasing impact on the developmental activities of employers in the London Region during 2007.
I hope this response is helpful to you.
English Language: Education
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the planned budget is for English for speakers of other languages provision over the next five years. [127896]
Bill Rammell: Since 2001, the funding for English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) has been provided through the skills for life strategy in response to regional and local demand.
The expectation is that next year's spending on ESOL will be broadly comparable to this year at around £279 million. The budget for the next five years will be dependent upon the comprehensive spending review after which all priorities will be re-assessed.
Higher Education Funding Council
Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what activities the Higher Education Funding Council for England undertook overseas in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06; and if he will make a statement. [126737]
Bill Rammell: The overseas activities undertaken by HEFCE are given in the following tables.
| 2003-04: HEFCE staff who made following visits | ||
| Country | Number of HEFCE staff | Activity |
| Notes: In addition HEFCE part funded: (a) (with British Council) an Education manager post at British Council in Beijing, (b) (with the Ministry of Education, China) an HE Leadership Development project, (c) (with the Ministry of Education, Thailand) an HE Policy Forum, (d) (with OECD and other countries) an HE financial management project | ||
| 2004-05: HEFCE staff made the following visits: | ||
| Country | Number of HEFCE staff | Activity |
| Notes: In addition HEFCE part funded: (a) (with British Council) an Education manager post at British Council in Beijing, (b) (with the Ministry of Education, China) an HE Leadership Development project, (c) (with OECD and other countries) an HE financial management project (d) a seminar in Australia as part of a project overseen by the Association of Commonwealth Universities. | ||
| 2005-06: HEFCE staff made the following visits: | ||
| Country | Number of HEFCE staff | Activity |
| Notes: In addition HEFCE part funded: (a) (with British Council) an Education manager post at British Council in Beijing. | ||
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