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9 Jun 2008 : Column 40W—continued
The figures provided here for young people of academic age 16 to 18 who are NEET do not represent the official DCSF estimates of NEET. The official national estimates are produced from a combination of administrative sources and LFS data, and can be found at:
The DCSF national estimates for 16 to 18 NEET cannot be disaggregated to regional level. Local figures are usually estimated using the Connexions Service’s data system, the Client Caseload Information System. However, since this data is not available for the 19 to 24 group, or for 1997, estimates derived purely from the LFS are provided here.
It is important to note that as with all survey estimates, these estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling error. Nationally, the margin of error around the LFS 16 to 18 NEET estimate is around +/- 1.4 per cent., and when broken down by region and gender, the margin of error will be much larger. The figures should, therefore, be treated with caution.
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Departmental Translation Services
Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2404W, on departmental translation services, how much was spent on translation services into (a) Welsh and (b) other languages in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06, (iv) 2006-07 and (v) 2007-08 to date. [197545]
Mr. Thomas: Expenditure on translations into Welsh, to support departmental requirements in accordance with its Welsh Language Scheme, is as follows:
| Into Welsh (£) | |
| (1) An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member on 4 March 2008 Official Report, column 2404W, with respect to expenditure on translation services in 2006-07. The correct figure on expenditure with the Department’s supplier is £539,711. | |
Expenditure on translations into other languages (other than English) to support departmental business, including providing appropriate access to information in accordance with the Department’s ‘Race Equality Scheme’, and the overseas promotional activities of UK Trade and Investment (the joint BERR and FCO organisation) is as follows:
| Languages other than English (£)( 1) | |
| (1) Includes costs of specialised typesetting and printing for some languages e.g. Arabic, Japanese. It has not been possible to identify such costs separately, from the information available centrally, without incurring disproportionate costs. (2) An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member on 4 March 2008, Official Report, column 2404W, with respect to expenditure on translation services in 2006-07. The correct figure on expenditure with the Department’s supplier is £539,711. | |
In an earlier answer I gave to the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) on 15 May 2008, Official Report, column 1754W, the figure of £16,805 for translations into Welsh in 2007-08, for which information is available separately, was inadvertently included in the figure for ‘translations into other languages’. The correct figure for the latter (excluding Welsh) is now £248,248.
Members: Correspondence
Mr. Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will reply to the letter of 11 March 2008 on Post Office Ltd and financial aid to closed post offices in Hampshire. [203412]
Mr. Thomas: My hon. Friend the Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (Mr. McFadden) responded to the right hon. Member on 19 May.
Children, Schools and Families
Children in Care
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children under 16 years are in care homes in (a) Leeds West constituency, (b) Leeds metropolitan district and (c) the UK. [208106]
Kevin Brennan: Information is only available on children looked after who are placed in care homes by Leeds local authority; this covers the same area as Leeds metropolitan district.
Information on the number of children under 16 years who were in care homes in Leeds local authority at 31 March 2007 is shown in the following table:
| Children looked after under the age of 16 at 31 March in Children's Homes 2007( 1, 2) | |
| England | Number |
| (1) SSDA903 return on children looked after. (2) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements and children looked after in secure homes and hostels. | |
Children in Care: Voluntary Organisations
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment his Department has made of the role of the third sector in improving outcomes for children in care; and if he will make a statement. [209684]
Kevin Brennan: Voluntary sector organisations have provided significant input into developing Care Matters and most recently worked with Government on the Implementation Plan. The successful implementation of Care Matters will take sustained effort from all parties, including the voluntary sector, many of whom are among a list of stakeholders we consult regularly.
Children: Alcoholic Drinks
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to inform parents of the relationship between under-age drinking and young people becoming (a) involved in and (b) a victim of a crime; and if he will make a statement. [208408]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 4 June 2008]: Alcohol consumption is one of the key factors associated with young people committing offences as well as being victims of crime, and is an important focus of the Youth Alcohol Action Plan the Government published on 2 June 2008.
Parents are a crucial influence over young people's attitudes and behaviours towards alcohol. This is why the Youth Alcohol Action Plan drives forward actions to develop a partnership with parents on young people and alcohol.
As part of the Action Plan, we will be issuing guidance to parents around young people and alcohol as well as targeting them with a communications campaign which aims to equip them with the knowledge they need to guide their children towards low-risk drinking.
The Action Plan also sets out measures to tackle young people drinking in public places—particularly when this is associated with antisocial behaviour.
Children: Disadvantaged
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effects of the 10-year child care strategy on children who are most disadvantaged. [209683]
Beverley Hughes: The Government's 10-year childcare strategy, Choice for parents, the best start for children, aims to ensure that every child gets the best start in life and that parents have more choice about how to balance work and family life. It will help to reduce child poverty and the achievement gap between the most disadvantaged children and their peers.
The strategy will transform services by creating a strong, multi-agency, high quality universal infrastructure for all young children and families, but with additional help and support targeted on disadvantaged families who benefit most from high quality early years and childcare provision.
Just a third of the way into the Strategy, we are ahead of schedule in establishing a new infrastructure. 2,907 multi-agency Sure Start Children's Centres have opened, offering services to over 2.2 million young children and their families. Almost all of those living in disadvantaged communities now have access to one. There are over 10,500 extended schools (two in five of the total) delivering access to the full core offer with many more schools delivering parts of the offer. 95 per cent. of three and four-year-olds are taking up the free part-time early education entitlement and some 13,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds in 32 local authorities have benefited from access to free early education. The assessments of childcare sufficiency that all local authorities have completed under the Childcare Act 2006 have given them a clear idea of the demand for childcare in their areas, its supply and any gaps between the two, to meet their duty of securing sufficient childcare for working parents.
We regularly evaluate the effectiveness of our policies through research and have a number of ongoing evaluations and data collections to monitor progress and inform the development of new policies. The latest National Evaluation of Sure Start research, published on 4 March, highlighted very clearly that Sure Start programmes are having a positive impact in some of the country's most disadvantaged communities, improving young children's development and strengthening the skills of parents so that they can provide a better home learning environment, helping prepare children to do well at school and make the most of their talents.
Departmental Vocational Training
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families for what proportion of its staff his Department has provided vocational training in the last three years. [209434]
Kevin Brennan: The information is not held centrally in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Grandparents
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to ensure that appropriate advice and support is available to grandparents who take on the care of their grandchildren. [209800]
Kevin Brennan: Local authorities have a broad power under Section 17 of the Children's Act 1989 to provide services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need and to promote the upbringing of children by their families, defined to include any person with whom the child is living. These services may include financial help if that is the most appropriate way to meet the child's needs. Grandparents in these circumstances are also entitled to claim child tax credits and child benefit in the same way as other parents. If grandparents or any other relative are caring for a child who is looked after by the local authority, they will be approved as local authority foster carers and entitled to the same financial allowances and support services as any other foster carer.
The Care Matters White Paper set out our commitment to provide a new framework for family and friends care which will set out the expectations of an effective service to enable children to remain within their wider families and communities. We are also seeking to improve services and supports to relative carers through a number of measures in the Children and Young Person's Bill
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