| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4 Feb 2008 : Column 936W—continued
Written Questions: Government Responses
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he will answer question (a) 177121, (b) 177140 and (c) 177131 tabled by the hon. Member for Southend West on 4 January 2008; what the reason for the time taken to reply is in each case; what steps he has (i) taken and (ii) plans to take to seek to answer ordinary written questions within a working week of them being tabled; and if he will make a statement. [182642]
Ian Pearson: I replied to questions 177140, 177119 and 177121 today and apologise for the delay. Question 177131 has been transferred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to answer.
Young People
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many (a) 16-year-olds, (b) 17-year-olds and (c) 18 to 24-year-olds are (a) in part-time education and (b) not in any education. [182643]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Estimates of participation in education for those aged 16 to 18 are published annually by the Department in a Statistical First Release (SFR) each June. The most recent estimates of the number and proportion of academic age 16, 17, and 18-year-olds in England in full-time education, part-time education, and not in any education,
are shown in the following tables. The figures relate to the end of 2006. Note that young people classed as ‘not in education' will include those in work-based learning and other training.
| Proportion of young people in education by academic age (DCSF SFR) | |||
| Percentage | |||
| Academic Age | |||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | |
| Number of young people in education by academic age (DSCF SFR) | |||
| Number | |||
| Academic Age | |||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | |
The Department does not publish estimates of participation in education above academic age 18. However, it is possible to produce estimates for 18 to 24-year-olds from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Estimates for England from the LFS, relating to the first quarter of 2007, are shown in the following tables. It is important to note that the LFS will not produce estimates that directly match those from the Department's Participation SFR, and that they will be subject to sampling error and respondent error. The LFS estimates of population size by cohort also differ from the Participation SFR. LFS estimates are also provided for young people of academic age 16, 17 and 18 for comparison with the Departments estimates as tabled above.
| Proportion in education by academic age, Labour Force Survey | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| Academic Age | ||||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 to 24 | |
| Number in education by academic age, Labour Force Survey | ||||
| Number | ||||
| Academic Age | ||||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 to 24 | |
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his latest estimate is of the percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds not in education or training in (a) England, (b) Leeds metropolitan district area and (c) Leeds West constituency. [183143]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Estimates of participation in education, training and employment in England for those aged 16 to 18 are published annually by the Department in a Statistical First Release (SFR) each June. The most recent estimate of the proportion of young people of academic age 16 to 18 not in any education or training in England was 22.7 per cent. This estimate relates to the end of 2006.
The Department also publishes local estimates of participation in England alongside the national figures, but these are available only for young people of academic age 16 and 17. The local figures are available by local authority, but cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency. The local participation estimates cover those in full-time education, part-time education, and work-based learning, but do not identify young people in employer funded training(1) or other education and training(2) apart from those on a part-time education course. This means that young people on such training will be included in the “not in education or work-based learning” figure.
The most recent local estimates for Leeds relate to the end of 2005, and are shown in the following table. The equivalent national estimates, calculated on the same basis, are also shown for comparison.
(1) Employer-funded training covers employees who have received training in the past four weeks, other than on a part-time education course.
(2) Other education and training covers young people who are studying but are not included in other categories. For example those attending independent colleges or training centres, or those at any college in part-time study not reported as released from job.
| Proportion of young people not in education or work-based learning by academic age, end 2005 | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 16 to 18 | |
Young People: Vocational Training
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his latest estimate is of the percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in work-based learning, including apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships in (a) England, (b) the Leeds metropolitan district area and (c) Leeds West constituency. [183127]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
Estimates of participation in education, training and employment in England for those aged 16 to 18 are published annually by the Department in a Statistical First Release (SFR) each June. The most recent estimate
of the proportion of young people of academic age 16 to 18 in work-based learning in England was 7.2 per cent. This estimate relates to the end of 2006. The figure includes all young people on apprenticeships, advanced apprenticeships, NVQ learning and Entry to Employment, but not pre-apprenticeships, since these are not yet available for study.
Pre-apprenticeships will be part of the offer to young people for whom a Level 2 programme is not yet suitable. We are reforming the qualifications and programmes at this level—the “Foundation Learning Tier”—and trials are under way of four new pathways, one of which is specifically designed for young people who are preparing to progress into the workplace, as a successor to Entry to Employment.
The Department also publishes local estimates of participation in England alongside the national figures, but these are available only for young people of academic age 16 and 17. The local figures are available by local authority, but cannot be broken down by parliamentary constituency. The most recent local estimates for participation in work-based learning for Leeds relate to the end of 2005, and are shown in the following table. The equivalent national estimates are also shown for comparison.
| Proportion of young people in work-based learning by academic age, end 2005 | ||||
| Percentage | ||||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 16 to 18 | |
Justice
Freedom of Information: Appeals
Mr. Denis Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many decisions by public bodies not to disclose information under the Freedom of Information Act have been appealed against since 2005. [183815]
Mr. Wills: The Ministry of Justice does not have a central record of the number of refusals appealed for internal review for all public authorities. Since 2005, the Information Commissioner has received 7,582 applications for a decision under section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Many of these complaints are procedural, concerning—for example—a public authority’s timeliness. Owing to the highly varied nature of complaints, comprehensive data on the number of substantive appeals to the commissioner are not available.
Requesters have made 136 appeals to the Information Tribunal under the Freedom of Information Act (including 14 cases relating to decisions under the Environmental Information Regulations). Requesters have made two appeals against Information Tribunal decisions to the High Court.
Ministry of Justice: Reorganisation
Mrs. Gillan:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 29
January 2007, Official Report, columns 8-10, on Ministry of Justice (Reorganisation), what criteria his Department plans to use to judge the performance of the new structure in (a) improving public protection, (b) reducing reoffending, (c) improving relations with the judiciary and (d) streamlining leadership in Wales; and what measurement process will be used. [184055]
Mr. Hanson: The new structure for the Ministry of Justice will provide the Department with a sharper focus on its key priorities, including public protection and reducing re-offending, and improving relations with the judiciary, while streamlining leadership across the whole of the Department’s agenda and removing duplication and overlapping responsibilities. A performance framework is being developed for the Department, which will include indicators for monitoring progress against departmental strategic objectives and our commitments, including any specifically relating to Wales, within the government public service agreements. It will also have indicators for assessing improvements in the way we work across the Department.
National Offender Management Service: PFI
Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the budget for prison and probation service property held at the National Offender Management Service includes repayment costs for private finance initiative projects. [181940]
Maria Eagle: The property private finance initiative (PFI) projects are treated as “on balance sheet”. Capital expenditure related to PFI projects is charged in full against the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) capital budget at the time the asset is ready for use. In addition, the NOMS estimate of costs of construction due to the contractor is also recognised on the NOMS balance sheet as a liability. Ongoing payments to contractors are then used to reduce the liability over time and therefore are not recorded against the NOMS budget, as all capital expenditure is recorded in full when the asset is ready for use.
The NOMS resource budget, which includes prison and probation service property budgets, includes an allowance for depreciation on the asset value and cost of capital charge on the asset value and the liability value.
Offenders: Accommodation
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how residential accommodation operated under the auspices of ClearSprings is used to house offenders in receipt of a custodial sentence in Peterborough City Council area; and if he will make a statement; [184079]
(2) what discussions he has had with (a) ClearSprings and (b) Cambridgeshire Probation Service on the allocation of residential accommodation for offenders in the Peterborough City Council area; and if he will make a statement. [184080]
Mr. Hanson:
Only those offenders who could be released on Home detention curfew (HDC) who have no suitable address to go to, and following a thorough risk assessment by the prison governor, can be
accommodated under the bail accommodation and support service provided by ClearSprings. I advised the hon. Member on 29 January that there are four HDC releases accommodated in Peterborough. The scheme aims to help them move on into more permanent accommodation and to help them into training and/or work.
The National Offender Manager for the East of England determined the accommodation required relative to the location of courts and local establishments. Liaison is ongoing with Cambridgeshire probation with regular meetings and written communications.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |