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31 Jan 2008 : Column 514W—continued
Internet
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to educate people about the identity risks they face when providing personal information to social networking sites. [182732]
Mr. Coaker: The Government have taken a number of steps to educate the public on the risks of identity theft. The Identity Fraud Steering Committee was set up to put in place measures to tackle identity fraud and has produced the website: www.identitytheft.org.uk to provide advice to the public on how to protect against the threat of identity fraud.
Further to this the joint Government and industry initiative GetSafeOnline gives the public detailed advice on identity risks on social networking sites.
The Government are about to publish a Social Networking Guidance which has been produced in partnership with industry. In developing this Guidance, the providers of such services have shown great commitment to helping ensure the safety of their users, and to educating them on possible consequences of making public personal information.
Offensive Weapons
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many incidents involving bladed weapons were reported in the last year for which figures are available; [178232]
(2) how many incidents were reported of attacks on police officers involving bladed weapons in the last year for which figures are available. [178233]
Mr. McNulty: From the information collected on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify those offences where knives or other offensive weapons were used, since details of the individual circumstances of offences are not recorded. From April 2007, police forces are providing data on knife-enabled grievous bodily harm and robbery offences.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to answer Question 162360, tabled by the hon. Member for Hertsmere on 6 November, on benefit claimants. [171147]
Mr. Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.
I replied to the hon. Member’s question on 6 December 2007, Official Report, column 1512W.
Police: Crimes of Violence
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were (a) injured and (b) killed in (i) knife-related, (ii) firearms-related and (iii) other incidents in each of the last five years. [178934]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 14 January 2008]: The numbers of fatal, serious and other assaults on police officers have been published each year by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) in their annual report. HMIC have advised that these assaults data will no longer be published in their annual report and that the data for 2004-05 would be the last series of data to be published.
These data are not available by the method of assault. The available data are given in the table as follows.
| Assaults( 1) on police officers 2000-01 to 2004-05( 2,3) | ||
| England and Wales | Fatal injury | Serious and other injury |
| (1) Data collated on behalf of and published by HMIC. Serious assaults are those for which the charge would be under Sections 18 and 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. Other assaults include those with minor or no injury. Recording practices may vary over time and between forces. (2) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. (3) HMIC did not publish a force breakdown of assaults prior to 1999-2000. HMIC have advised that assaults data will no longer be published in their annual report and that the data for 2004-05 is the last series of these data to be published. (4) Northamptonshire was not able to separate serious and other assaults from 2000-01 to 2002-03. (5) Lancashire and West Midlands were not able to provide breakdowns of numbers for different assaults in 2003-04, however the number of overall assaults was 462 and 1,112 respectively. (6.) Lancashire and West Midlands were not able to provide breakdowns of numbers for different assaults in 2004-05, however the number of overall assaults was 521 and 910 respectively. (7) Greater Manchester was not able to provide data in 2003-04. (8) Metropolitan police was unable to provide data in 2000-01 and was unable to provide breakdowns of numbers for different assaults from 2001-02 to 2003-04. | ||
Sweden
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what official meetings the hon. Member for Gedling (Mr. Coaker) held during his recent visit to Sweden. [182914]
Mr. Coaker: During my visit to Sweden on 10 January and 11 January 2008, I had meetings with representatives of the following organisations:
the Ministry of Justice;
the Ministry for Integration and Equality;
the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs;
the National Board of Health and Welfare;
the Stockholm Prostitution Unit; and
Sex Workers Allies in Sweden (SANS).
I also met the National Rapporteur on Trafficking, the Chief Constable of Stockholm and representatives from the Gender Equality Ombudsman, the Women’s Forum and the Ethical Council for Pay Telephone Services.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Adult Education: Finance
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the budget for adult education provision, excluding basic literacy and numeracy, has been in each of the last five years. [178558]
Bill Rammell: Investment in adult participation funding through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) will increase to around £3.6 billion in 2010-11, an increase of over 17 per cent. compared with 2007-08. This will support on average over 3 million adult learners (aged 19 plus) per year over the next three years.
The Skills for Life (SfL) strategy was launched in 2001 to meet the basic numeracy and literacy skills needs of all post-16 learners. Between 2002-03 and 2005-06 total SfL funding through further education increased from £421 million to £736 million. This investment has helped support 1.75 million post-16 learners to achieve their first basic literacy/numeracy qualifications since 2001.
SfL figures for adults (aged 19 plus) are available from 2006-07 and are provided in the following table alongside total adult participation investment.
Departments: Committees
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills with reference to the answer of 12 July 2007, Official Report, column 1619-20W, on Departments: committees, if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) agenda and (b) most recent minutes of each organisation. [181805]
Mr. Lammy: The agendas, and where available the minutes, of EU committees are issued by the relevant EU institution and are available from the organisation concerned or from the relevant website. The agendas for council working group meetings are available from the EU Council Secretariat, however, the meetings are held in confidence and no public minutes are issued.
Education: Prisoners
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what courses are offered to offenders serving custodial sentences. [178086]
Mr. Lammy: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Offender learning is currently delivered through the Learning and Skills Council-led Offenders Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) delivery arrangements introduced in July 2006. This includes an ‘Offender's Learning Journey’ which sets out a broader richer curriculum offer, comparable to that found in the outside community. Provision is demand led with individual learner needs identified through an early intense assessment process and development of an individual learning plan (ILP) which sets out how individual learner needs will be met.
In addition to this, higher education courses are available to those who are both suitable and eligible to participate.
Graduates: Debts
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he plans to take to minimise debt among young graduates from poor backgrounds. [179649]
Bill Rammell: The current package of student support is the most comprehensive ever provided. From 2008/09 onwards, we will help more students with non-repayable finance. Two-thirds of full-time students will receive a full or partial grant, and non-means-tested loans will be available to all.
Student loans are repayable only after leaving higher education and repayments only commence when income exceeds the earnings threshold(1). All borrowers, regardless of their age or background, benefit from a zero real rate of interest and the option to defer repayments if they are in financial difficulties. Those who are due to start repaying their loans from 2012 will be able to take a repayment holiday for up to five years. For those who never earn enough to afford to repay, outstanding loan balances will eventually be written off.
Not all young graduate debt is student loan debt. Some young graduates borrow elsewhere at commercial interest rates. Current provisions should minimise the need for those who hold student loans to top up these loans by borrowing elsewhere.
(1 )For pre-1998 loans, the threshold is 85 per cent. of national average earnings (currently approximately £25,000). For post-1998 income-contingent loans, borrowers repay 9 per cent. of income exceeding £15,000.
Higher Education
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many educational facilities were awarded university status in each year since 1997. [179389]
Bill Rammell: The following table lists all the institutions which have been granted university title since 1997.
| Universities created post 1997 | |
| University | Date it achieved university title |
| (1) Although the word ‘university’ does not appear in its title, it is defined as a university in its charter. | |
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many educational establishments had their university status removed in each year since 1997. [179390]
Bill Rammell: No institutions granted university title by the Privy Council have had that title removed.
Vocational Training: Cost Effectiveness
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what cost-benefit assessment has been made of Train to Gain; [181757]
(2) what cost-benefit assessment has been made of skills brokers. [181758]
Mr. Lammy:
Train to Gain is a new service specifically designed to support employers in identifying and then meeting the skills they need to drive their business forward. The design of Train to Gain was based on the employer training pilots which were rigorously evaluated by the Institute of Employment Studies and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Launched in April 2006, Train to Gain reached full national coverage in England in August 2006. In its first year of full operation it engaged more than 52,000 employers and some 240,000 learners started on a programme of activity, many for the first time. We have set out our ambitions to reach more employers and to drive up levels of investment in skills in Plan for Growth, copies of which are in the Library of the
House. In support of our expansion plans, we have a major programme of evaluation under way for all aspects of Train to Gain and will expect to publish, through the LSC, the conclusions of those evaluations, including the benefits accrued. Employers engaged continue to express high satisfaction with the skills brokerage, with the latest figures showing that 86 per cent. of employers are either satisfied or very satisfied with the overall service.
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