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12 Dec 2007 : Column 750W—continued
National Institute for Medical Research
Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the features of the National Institute for Medical Research’s site at Mill Hill that make a relocation of the institute necessary. [172188]
Ian Pearson: The Government have accepted the Medical Research Council’s case to relocate the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) to a central London location based on the council’s vision for the institute, as this would:
enhance the multidisciplinary nature of NIMR’s work, providing much improved access to other biomedical researchers, physical scientists, engineers and mathematicians; and
provide opportunities to collaborate more closely with clinicians and strengthen the impact of translational research, thereby exploiting alongside the medical and healthcare cluster in central London.
School Leaving
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what research was used as the basis for calculating the economic benefits of increasing the compulsory education age to 18 years. [172372]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The basis of the estimate of economic benefits of raising the participation age (RPA) in education or training is new joint research by Sheffield university and DCSF. The research’s central estimate of the additional benefits of RPA is around £2.4 billion for a single cohort of young people discounted over their lifetimes. This research was published alongside the introduction of the Education and Skills Bill to the House on 29 November.
For further details of the methodology and data sources used to estimate the economic benefits of RPA (and the magnitude of the benefits under alternative scenarios), the full report is accessible at:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RW026.pdf. The research will also be placed in the House of Commons Library.
Science: Qualifications
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what percentage of degrees awarded in science, technology, engineering or mathematics were awarded as equivalent or lower-level qualifications in the last 10 years; [171961]
(2) how many students in higher education studying for a science, technology, engineering or mathematics degree were pursuing equivalent or lower-level qualifications in the last 10 years. [171962]
Bill Rammell: The precise information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table sets out the number and proportion of students studying the major science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects as equivalent or lower-level qualifications (ELQ) in 2005/06. Subject to consultation, we plan to continue to support vulnerable strategic subjects including STEM subjects studied as ELQs. The £100 million to be redistributed as a result of our ELQ policy will also enable more students to study STEM subjects as first degrees than would otherwise be the case.
We have already announced that we will be spending an extra £75 million over three years to support relatively expensive STEM subjects.
| Number and proportion of students studying major STEM subjects as equivalent or lower qualifications | ||
| Subject | ELQ students | ELQ students as percentage of total |
Training
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will break down by scheme the 7.5 million training places announced in Her Majesty's Gracious Speech. [172271]
Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Statement of Priorities published on 16 November set out the funding strategy for post-16 further education (FE) and skills for the comprehensive spending review (CSR) period (2008-09 to 2010-11). Total investment on post-16 FE and skills will increase from £11.2 billion in 2007-08 to £12.4 billion in 2010-11.
Funding for adult participation will be £3.6 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 17 per cent. compared with 2007-08. This will support on average 3 million adult learners each year on programmes ranging from on-line courses to full-time qualifications taken in FE colleges (this includes learners funded through the adult learner responsive and employer responsive models, and the adult safeguarded budget).
The 7.5 million adult learners refers to the total adult places funded through the adult learner and employer responsive models (rounded to the nearest half a million) as set out in the joint Grant Letter to the LSC from my Department and Department for Children, Schools and Families. Annex C to the Grant Letter provides a breakdown of these figures by programme and can be found at
Between 2007/08 and 2010/11, the funding settlement will allow us to increase the number of fully funded adult places at full level 2 (5 A*-C GCSEs or their equivalent) by over 30 per cent., and at full level 3 (2 A-levels or more or their equivalent) by around 148 per cent. It will also support an additional 30,000 apprenticeship places for learners aged 25 or over during the CSR period. £1.5 billion per year will be available to support a full range of pre-level 2 first steps and progression programmes.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the number of individuals who will receive a training place following the announcement by his Department on 16 November 2007. [173172]
Bill Rammell:
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Statement of Priorities published on 16 November set out the funding strategy for post-16 further education (FE) and skills for the comprehensive spending review (CSR) period (2008-09 to 2010-11).
Total investment on post-16 FE and skills will increase from £11.2 billion in 2007-08 to £12.4 billion in 2010-11.
Funding for adult participation will be £3.6 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 17 per cent. compared with 2007-08. This will support on average over 3 million adult learners each year on programmes ranging from on-line courses to full-time qualifications taken in FE colleges. Specifically, it will allow us to increase the number of fully funded adult places at full level 2 (5 A*-C GCSEs or their equivalent) by over 30 per cent. and at full level 3 (2 A-levels or more or their equivalent) by around 148 per cent. It will also support an additional 30,000 apprenticeship places for learners aged 25 or over during the CSR period and £1.5 billion per year will be available to support a full range of pre-level 2 first steps and progression programmes.
Funding for young people (aged 16 to 19) will be £6.9 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 14 per cent. compared with 2007-08. This puts the Government firmly on track to drive up participation and attainment towards the goal of achieving 86 per cent. participation by the end of the CSR period and on to 90 per cent. by 2013, while significantly narrowing achievement gaps through access to a wider range of progression routes, including through a significant expansion of apprenticeships and the roll-out of the new diplomas.
Annex C to the joint Grant Letter to the LSC from my Department and Department for Children, Schools and Families provides a breakdown of the number of funded places by programme and can be found at:
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many of the training places announced by his Department on 16 November 2007 will be provided (a) full-time, (b) part-time and (c) via online arrangements. [173173]
Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Statement of Priorities published on 16 November set out the funding strategy for post-16 further education (FE) and skills for the comprehensive spending review (CSR) period (2008-09 to 2010-11). Total investment on post-16 FE and skills will increase from £11.2 billion in 2007-08 to £12.4 billion in 2010-11.
Funding for adult participation will be £3.6 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 17 per cent. compared with 2007-08. This will support on average over 3 million adult learners each year on programmes ranging from online courses to full-time qualifications taken in FE colleges. Specifically, it will allow us to increase the number of fully funded adult places at full level 2 (5 A* - C GCSEs or their equivalent) by over 30 per cent. and at full level 3 (2 A-levels or more or their equivalent) by around 148 per cent. It will also support an additional 30,000 apprenticeship places for learners aged 25 or over during the CSR period and £1.5 billion per year will be available to support a full range of pre-level 2 first steps and progression programmes.
Funding for young people (aged 16-19) will be £6.9 billion in 2010-11, an increase of 14 per cent. compared with 2007-08. This puts the Government firmly on track to drive up participation and attainment towards the goal of achieving 86 per cent. participation by the
end of the CSR period and on to 90 per cent. by 2013, while significantly narrowing achievement gaps through access to a wider range of progression routes, including through a significant expansion of apprenticeships and the roll out of the new diplomas.
Annex C to the joint Grant Letter to the LSC from my Department and the Department for Children, Schools and Families provides a breakdown of the number of funded places by programme and can be found at:
Union Learning Fund
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills whether his Department has commissioned any assessment of the effectiveness of the Union Learning Fund in the past three years. [173164]
Mr. Lammy: An evaluation of the Union Learning Fund (2001 to 2005), which surveyed a range of employers, individual learners and unions involved in ULF, was undertaken on behalf of the former Department for Education and Skills by York Consulting Ltd. Key findings from this evaluation indicate that:
almost two thirds of those employers who responded had a learning agreement in place as a result of ULF and 75 per cent. reported an increase in Skills for Life learning;
11,000 union learning reps had been recruited but many were not as active as they would like due to a lack of employer support;
153,000 people had accessed learning opportunities, the vast majority of whom were able to apply their skills in the workplace;
Unions had successfully used ULF funds to develop their learning policies and strategies, improving their capacity to support the learning agenda.
A copy of this evaluation report is available in the House of Commons Library.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what funding was allocated to the Union Learning Fund in each year since 1998. [173165]
Mr. Lammy: Trade unions have a key role to play in promoting the development of learning and skills in the workplace. To help them do this more effectively we introduced the Union Learning Fund in 1998. This source of funding is helping trade unions use their influence with employers, employees and training providers to encourage greater take-up of learning at work and boost their own capacity as learning organisations. Since 1998 annual expenditure on the Union Learning Fund has been as follows:
| Annual expenditure on Union Learning fund (£million) | |
The budget for 2007/08 is £18.4 million
With the help of the Union Learning Fund, trade unions and their union learning representatives have been really successful in working with employers to raise skill levels in the work place. There are now over 18,000 trained union learning reps who have helped over 400,000 workers back into learning since the Fund was introduced. Over 150,000 last year alone, many of whom were Skills for Life learners, those most in need of new skills who employers and training providers find it so difficult to reach.
Young People: Wirral
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people between the ages of 18 and 24 years in Wirral, West constituency are not in education, employment or training; and what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of those entering higher education. [173616]
Bill Rammell:
Annual average estimates of the numbers and proportion of people who are not in education, employment or training are available at a local level from the Annual Population Survey (APS). However, this information cannot be provided for the 18 to 24 age group for the Wirral, West constituency because the number in the sample is so small that ONS rules on protecting confidentiality do not permit disclosure. Estimates for 2006 for Wirral local education authority (LEA), and by comparison Merseyside/Halton Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the North West and England, are shown in the table as follows. As with all sample surveys, estimates from the APS are subject to sampling variability and the smaller
the geography the smaller the sample and hence the larger the sampling variability relative to the estimate. Estimates for small areas should therefore be treated with caution.
| 18 to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (APS, 2006) | |||
| Area | Number | Total | Per cent |
| (1) Based on academic age—ie age as at the previous 31 August. For example, someone of academic age 18 is the age one would most often expect someone to enter higher education if they do not take a gap year (ie they will be in their third academic year since completing compulsory education). | |||
The Government remain committed to ensuring that all those with the merit and potential to benefit from higher education are able and willing to do so. The Government will provide an average real-terms increase in funding for higher education of around 2.5 per cent. per annum to 2011, which means that in 2010-11 there will be over £1.5 billion of additional funding compared with 2007-08, with funded student numbers rising to around 1.2 million by 2010-11—50,000 more than now. Alongside this the Government support the Aimhigher Programme, which seeks to raise aspirations and motivation to enter higher education among young people who are from under-represented backgrounds. The programme was launched nationally in August 2004, is delivered through 45 area-based partnerships of schools, colleges and higher education institutions.
The Government also offer non-repayable grants. The full grant will be £2,835 per annum from September 2008. At the same time the income threshold for a full grant for new entrants will increase from £17,500 to £25,000 and for partial grant to £60,005. Student numbers in England are up by 323,000 since 1997 to 1.95 million in 2005/06.
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