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3 Mar 2008 : Column 2213W—continued
(a) Draft Council Decision on a Community position in the Association Council on the implementation of Article 75 of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Community and its member states, of the one part, and the Republic of Lebanon, of the other part 8911/07 RL 9 8906/07 RL 8 UE-RL 3004/07
(b) Draft Council Decision on a Community position within the Association Council on the implementation of Article 80 of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Community and its member states, of the one part, and the Republic of Lebanon, of the other part 8280/07 RL 6 + REV 1 (fi) 8277/07 RL 5 UE-RL 3001/07
8. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information—Adoption of the legislative act PE-CONS 3602/07 ENT 9 ENV 43 CODEC 65 + COR 1 + REV 1 (ga)+ REV 1 COR 1 (ga) + REV 2 9156/07 CODEC 447 ENT 50 ENV 227 + ADD 1 + ADD 1 COR 1
9. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates (LA) (First reading) - Adoption of the legislative act PE-CONS 3603/07 STATIS 12 COMPET 43 CODEC 101 + COR 1 + COR 2 + REV 1 (It) 9186/07 CODEC 451 STATIS 59 COMPET 130
10. Third railway package (Third reading)
(a) Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community’s railways
(b) Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the certification of train crews operating locomotives and trains on the Community’s rail network
(c) Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on International Rail Passengers1 Rights and Obligations—Non-approval of the European Parliament’s amendments 9417/07 CODEC 491 TRANS 150 9418/07 CODEC 492 TRANS 151 9419/07 CODEC 493 TRANS 152
Education, Youth and Culture Council 16 February 2007:
1. Governing Board of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (a) Appointment of Mr Ole BONDO CHRISTENSEN, to replace Mr. Jonas BERING LIISBERG, Danish full Member, who has resigned; (b) Appointment of Mr. Valerio SPEZIALE, to replace Mr Paolo REBOANI, Italian full Member, who has resigned; (c) Appointment of Mr.. Lorenzo FANTINI, to replace Ms Francesca PELAIA, Italian alternate Member, who has resigned; (d) Appointment of Mr. Orestis MESSIOS, to replace Mme Lenia SAMUEL, Cypriot full Member; who has resigned:(e) Appointment of Ms Yiota KAMBOURIDOU, to replace Mr. Charalambos KOLOKOTRONIS, Cypriot alternate Member; who has resigned. 6126/07 SOC 53
2. Adoption of a Council decision appointing members of the European Social Fund Committee 5662/07 SOC 29 + ADD 1 16601/06 SOC 605
3. Adoption of a Council Regulation amending Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on persistent organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC (LA) 5257/07 ENV 19 ENT 4 + COR 1 (en) + COR 2 (cs) + REV 1 (fi) + REV 2 (hu) 6026/07 ENV 75 ENT 16
Delivery Services
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which companies are under contract to his Department to provide mail services. [170169]
Mr. Lammy: Mail services for the Department are provided by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform uses the following companies and organisations for mail services:
Royal Mail
Parcel Force
Lewis Day
Government Mail
Pitney Bowes
FCO
DHL
The Department for Children Schools and Families uses the following companies and organisations for mail services:
Royal Mail
Parcel Force
Copley Couriers
Central Dispatch Couriers and
‘Same Day’
Departmental Electricity
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the electricity bill for his Department was in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [190263]
Mr. Lammy: The buildings occupied by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, since its creation in June 2007, are administered on our behalf by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. This also goes for the related facilities management arrangements and utilities contracts. The exact split of utilities bills has not yet been carried out.
Departmental Public Expenditure
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what changes have been made to his Department's budget for training and skills since the publication of the comprehensive spending review conclusions on 9 October. [173162]
Mr. Lammy: Overall investment in further education (FE) and skills will rise to £5.3 billion by 2010-11, an increase of 7 per cent. in real terms compared with 2007-08. This will enable real progress to be made against the Leitch ambitions for world-class skills, equipping adults with the skills they need for sustainable employment and progression. No changes have been made to the budget for FE and skills since the publication of the comprehensive spending review conclusions.
Departmental Training
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what training courses are available to departmental staff via his Department’s learning and development unit. [178207]
Mr. Lammy: We refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 27 February 2008, Official Report, column 1656W (PQ 180354).
Education: Bullingdon Prison
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the budget is for HM Prison Bullingdon in the 2007-08 financial year for English language teaching; and what the budget was in 2006-07. [190687]
Mr. Lammy: There was no specific budget allocated for English language teaching at HM Prison Bullingdon in either the 2006-07 or 2007-08 financial year. The resources for learning and skills provision in individual prisons are not allocated on the basis of particular courses or learning interventions. An overall budget is set, from which provision will be delivered on the basis of the assessed needs of individual learners.
Educational Institutions: Nutrition
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his policy is on healthy eating in establishments within the responsibilities of his Department, with particular reference to undergraduate students; and if he will make a statement. [178248]
Bill Rammell: Promoting healthy lifestyles for people in England and Wales is an important governmental responsibility. The Department of Health is responsible for helping the public to make healthier and more informed lifestyle choices generally, and for promoting healthy eating for all young people and adults as outlined in the recent joint strategy paper “Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives”. The Food Standards Agency also produces guidance on healthy eating specifically aimed at students. Higher and further education institutions are self-governing independent bodies and take account of national guidance and local circumstances in developing their own policies.
Learning Outside the Classroom
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress his Department has made on the Learning Outside the Classroom manifesto published in November 2006. [190909]
Jim Knight [holding answer 29 February 2008]: I have been asked to reply.
There are nearly 900 signatories to the Manifesto vision and aims. They are represented by a National Advisory Group comprising eight sector partnerships (natural environment, farming and countryside, outdoor adventure, places of worship, creativity and arts, heritage, built environment, school grounds and early years), school work forces, local authorities, parents, governors and young people.
The National Advisory Group has agreed an Action Plan to tackle the barriers to learning outside the classroom identified during consultation. With our partners, we
are promoting the benefits to a wide audience; producing ‘How to’ guidance, teacher resources and training modules; creating an umbrella quality badge for providers; and setting up an independent council to take forward the Manifesto objectives.
Older Workers: Industrial Training
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what (a) grants and (b) training schemes are available through his Department for people (i) over 55 years old and (ii) in retirement to learn new job skills. [190010]
Mr. Lammy: All adults aged 19 plus, who are not in receipt of out of work benefits, can access the Adult Learning Grant (ALG), which pays up to £30 per week in term time to help with learning costs to study for a first full Level 2 or first full Level 3 qualification.
Our World Class Skills reforms will support individuals, including older people into sustainable employment and progression in work and in skills. We will give greater ownership and choice to individuals over their training through skills accounts backed up by a new universal adult careers service promoting personal advancement.
Similarly we are working with employers through Train to Gain and the Skills Pledge to meet skill needs and to ensure that all employees including older people have the basic skills, including literacy and numeracy and Level 2 skills (equivalent to five good GCSEs) needed to sustain and progress in employment. We are increasing funding for Train to Gain from £440 million in 2007-08 to over £900 million in 2010-11.
We are also investing some £1.5 billion in each of the next three years in learning below level 2 and progression learning, to help the low-skilled and those not in employment to improve their skills and secure sustainable employment.
Quality Improvement Agency: Standards
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills by what mechanism improvements are monitored and measured in the work of the Quality Improvement Agency. [181703]
Mr. Lammy: There are three principal elements against which QIA progress is measured and monitored:
the success of QIA’s own programmes and services
the implementation of the National Improvement Strategy
the overall effectiveness of QIA.
These three elements are inter-related and are measured and reported on separately as:
programme level indicators
the Improvement Strategy Balanced Scorecard
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for QIA.
Table 1 following shows the relationships between the three elements and how they are monitored.
QIA has agreed with DIUS an evaluation framework based on four main headings which is otherwise known as the RISE framework:
1. Extent of ‘reach’ or engagement with the sector (‘Reach’)
2. Impact of the programme/activity (‘Impact’)
3. Satisfaction/Awareness with QIA’s programmes and services (‘Satisfaction/Awareness’)
4. Organisational effectiveness (‘Effectiveness’)
The programme level indicators, the Improvement Strategy balanced scorecard and the KPIs for QIA are all mapped to the RISE framework.
QIA commenced using the RISE framework for its programmes from 1 April 2007, and commissioned a ‘Summative Evaluation’ to bring together the evidence gathered at that time from the evaluations of individual programmes and activities, data generated by the external contractors delivering these programmes and activities, and various other sources.
Further information on QIA progress and achievements is available on the QIA website via this link:
Students: Finance
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how his Department encourages students entitled to bursaries to apply for them; and if he will make a statement. [184038]
Bill Rammell: The great majority of those entitled to bursaries in 2006/07 either applied to their university for funding, or were the subject of an automatic notification of eligibility from the Student Loans Company to their university because they had given consent to the sharing of financial data.
Many universities have worked hard to maximise take-up of bursaries. In some cases not enough has been done, and the Director of Fair Access, Martin
Harris, has written to universities where this is so. We support this initiative. In addition, at our request the Student Loans Company is providing clearer information to applicants for student loans about the benefits of giving consent to share financial data with universities, although consent to share rightly remains a matter of individual choice.
DIUS raises awareness of all elements of the higher education student finance package including bursaries via literature, web and campaign material.
Additionally, the Department established a bursary map
to help individuals link to higher education institutions in England to find out what financial help those institutions are offering and how they should apply.
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