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9 May 2008 : Column 1266W—continued
Department for Education and Skills
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will break down by subheading each line in Table 8.9 in the 2007 Annual Report of the former Department for Education and Skills. [203878]
Bill Rammell: The breakdown of the information contained in Table 8.9 in the 2007 Annual Report of the former Department for Education and Skills is already publicly available and is contained in Tables 4a, 6 and 7 of the LSC published accounts covering the period 2001-07.
Departmental Written Questions
David T.C. Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many days it took on average to answer written parliamentary questions tabled by each hon. Member for answer by him in the last six months. [201761]
Mr. Lammy: The Department’s systems are currently unable to provide the breakdown requested and to do so would incur disproportionate cost. I can confirm that since the beginning of this Session and up to 31 March 2008 the Department has received a total of 1,151 PQs: 141 Named Day and 1,010 Ordinary Written PQs. The parliamentary team have been maintaining a manual check on all Named Day PQs to monitor the timeliness of replies and the Department’s statistics for answering named day PQs for the months of November 2007 to March 2008 are shown in the table as follows.
| Total Named Day PQs received | Total Named Day PQs answered on time (%) | |
Higher Education: EU Nationals
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the likely amount of bad debt arising from outstanding tuition fees from students from EU countries studying at English universities after April 2010; and what provision he has made for such debt. [192346]
Bill Rammell: Loans for tuition fees to higher education students from other European Union (EU) member states began in September 2006. The Student Loans Company has established payment arrangements for borrowers from those countries. They are informed of the methods of repayment available to them; and the SLC is putting in place enforcement procedures which will include the use of external trace agents, international debt collection companies and—where necessary—litigation against those defaulting on their repayments. Legal action against defaulting borrowers across the EU is underpinned by EC regulation 44/2001 which allows the SLC to obtain judgments in UK courts which can be enforced by courts in other EU countries.
The salary thresholds above which borrowers repay have been set at levels appropriate to each EU member state, taking into account living costs, so that borrowers’ repayments take local circumstances into account.
Some students from EU member states will stay in the UK to work after graduation, in which case they are expected to obtain a national insurance number and make loan repayments through the UK tax system.
While there is not yet enough information about repayments from EU students accurately to estimate a default rate there is no evidence to suggest that these students will be less likely to honour their loan repayment obligations than UK borrowers.
Learning and Skills Council for England
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will publish a reconciliation of Table 8.9 in his Department's Annual Report with Table 4a in the 2007 Annual Report of the Learning and Skills Council. [203874]
Bill Rammell:
The two tables are compiled at different points in the year: the figures in the 2007 Departmental Annual Report (DAR) were based on
December 2006 forecasts and the figures in the 2006-07 LSC accounts are the audited figures as at 31 March 2007. In addition, the administration budget for the LSC is not included in Table 4a of the 2006-07 LSC accounts while the European Social Fund budgets are not included in Table 8.9 of the DAR. These are the reasons for the differences that occur between these two sets of published numbers.
Overseas Students: Loans
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what total value of Student Loan Company loans is held by students from European Union member states other than the UK; [187650]
(2) how many students from EU member states other than the UK hold loans from the Student Loan Company. [187651]
Bill Rammell: The Student Loans Company issued tuition fee loans to students from other European Union countries for the first time in September 2006. During the 2006-07 academic year 7,100 EU students studying in England borrowed £9.7 million in tuition fee loans. This represents 2.5 per cent. of tuition fee loans issued in England.
The Student Loans Company has established payment arrangements for borrowers from other EU countries. Those staying in the UK are expected to obtain a National Insurance Number and make repayments through the UK tax system. If they are going abroad arrangements are in place for repayments to be scheduled and these borrowers are made aware of the methods of repayment available to them.
So that all who can pay contribute to the costs of their education we have put in place variable threshold bands which are dependent on where the borrower lives. Effective collection across the EU is underpinned by EC regulation 44/2001, which allows the SLC to obtain judgments in UK courts, which can be enforced by courts in other EU countries.
Students: Debts
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the average debt a student beginning a higher education degree course in 2008 is likely to have on graduating. [194090]
Bill Rammell: We estimate that students beginning higher education degree courses in 2008 are likely to graduate with personal debt, on average, of some £16,000. However, the average will depend on: how many students choose to take-up a loan for tuition fees; whether those students who are eligible for grants thereby reduce how much they borrow for maintenance; and whether trends in the level of commercial debt remain stable.
Student loans have very different features to most commercial loans. Repayment is based on income, not the amount owed. Graduates only repay once they are in work and only when their annual income reaches
£15,000. Interest is charged at the rate of inflation, so students only pay back in real terms the amount they originally borrowed.
In July last year we announced plans to introduce greater flexibility in the repayment of student loans by allowing borrowers to take repayment breaks of up to five years.
A generous package of support is available to students, particularly those from low income households. In 2006/07 over half of eligible full-time students received a full or partial maintenance grant of up to £2,700. From 2008/09 onwards, the minimum threshold (of household income) for a full maintenance grant of up to £2,835 per year will be extended from £17,500 a year to £25,000 a year; with a partial grant available up to an income threshold of £60,005. This will mean that two thirds of all eligible students in England entering higher education in the academic year 2008/09 are expected to be entitled to a full or partial non-repayable grant—compared to just over half now.
Students: Fees and Charges
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the average annual tuition fee paid by first degree part-time undergraduates in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [202199]
Bill Rammell: The information requested is not available, as it is not collected centrally. Part-time tuition fees are not regulated; each institution sets fee levels for its own courses.
Statutory support for part-time students was first introduced in 2000/01. Part-time higher education students studying at least 50 per cent. of an equivalent full-time course can apply for means-tested course grants and fee grants. In 2006/07, we introduced the most generous package of financial support ever for part-time students in England. This included increasing the maximum fee grant by 27 per cent. and an above-inflation increase in the income threshold for receiving this support.
Students: Finance
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of first degree undergraduates with a parental household income of (a) £25,000, (b) £30,000, (c) £40,000, (d) £50,000, (e) £60,000 and (f) £70,000; and if he will make a statement. [203153]
Bill Rammell: We have not made specific estimates of the proportion of students at each household income level. For full-time students, the recently announced reforms for 2008/09 mean we estimate that around one third of eligible students will be entitled to a full grant. These students will have a residual household income of £25,000 or less. We also estimate around a third will be entitled to a partial grant, equivalent to an income between £25,000 and £60,005.
Due to these reforms for full-time students, by 2011, the number of students receiving some level of grant will increase by around 100,000. As part of this change, an extra 50,000 students will receive a full grant.
For part-time students the uncertainties are greater as the student support package is generally not available to students above a household income of around £26,000 (2007/08 support).
Justice
Bail Accommodation and Support Service
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice (1) how many residential accommodation places are being provided by ClearSprings for (a) persons on bail and (b) offenders released early from jail in 2008-09; and how many such places they will provide in each of the next three years; [204732]
(2) what steps ClearSprings is required to take to consult local authorities before providing housing for (a) persons on bail and (b) offenders released early from jail; and how many complaints against ClearSprings for not consulting he has received; [204733]
(3) what steps he is taking to ensure that correct procedures are followed by ClearSprings to (a) inform and (b) consult local authorities before sourcing residential accommodation for housing (i) persons on bail and (ii) offenders released early from jail; [204734]
(4) pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2008, Official Report, column 144, on what evidence he stated that Basildon council did not veto proposals by ClearSprings to purchase properties in Basildon to provide accommodation for offenders released early from prison. [204736]
Mr. Hanson: ClearSprings have to date been asked by NOMS to provide 160 properties for those bailed by the courts or released from prison on home detention curfew. The Regional Offender Managers and Directors of Offender Management keep the requirement under review and will seek further provision and adjustments to the geographical spread as demand requires.
ClearSprings are required to consult the police, probation and local authorities about addresses under consideration. They give an opportunity for any concerns to be registered. If there are objections these are discussed with the Regional Offender Manager/Director of Offender Management who will make the final decision on whether to proceed with an address.
There have been a small number of complaints from or on behalf of local authorities about lack of consultation, or delay in consultation. Local authorities will not be consulted until specific addresses are under consideration.
An audit of ClearSprings' past consultation was conducted during April and the report is expected shortly.
We were wrongly advised by ClearSprings that Basildon district council had not responded to ClearSprings' approach to them about potential addresses for the service.
Crimes of Violence: Curfews
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice under what circumstances a judge may suspend a curfew placed on a violent offender; what procedures exist to challenge such a ruling; and if he will make a statement. [204618]
Mr. Hanson: A court may impose a curfew as a condition of a community order or suspended sentence order. It would be open to the court when sentencing to make specific direction as to the start date of the curfew condition, under the general powers to impose such a condition set out in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. It is also open to the court subsequently to vary such a condition, should it see fit, upon application by either the offender or the Offender Manager.
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on translation services into (a) Welsh and (b) other languages by his Department, associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies (i) in 2003-04, (ii) in 2004-05, (iii) in 2005-06, (iv) in 2006-07 and (v) in 2007-08. [203872]
Maria Eagle: Information on how much was spent on translation services in Welsh is not separately recorded and could be ascertained only at a disproportional cost. Total costs spent on translation services for each part of the Department are as follows:
| Total spend on translation services | ||
| £ | ||
HMCS came into existence in April 2005 and therefore figures before this date are unobtainable.
| Total spend on translation services | ||
| £ | ||
The Tribunals Services came into existence in April 2006 and therefore figures before this date are unobtainable.
| Total spend on translation services | ||
| £ | ||
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