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14 Oct 2008 : Column 1154W—continued
These figures are based upon a sample survey of around 2,000 teachers in England and Wales during a single week in March 2008. The full report was published in August 2008 and can be found on the OME website at:
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department plans to take in response to the report by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child published on 3 October 2008. [225817]
Beverley Hughes: The UK Government welcome the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Concluding Observations. While areas of difference with the Committee remain, we will give the UN Committee’s recommendations the careful consideration they deserve.
Later this year we will report on progress against the commitments in the Children’s Plan, published in December 2007, including our ambitions and strategies to tackle many of the issues the UN Committee has highlighted.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families is keen to work with key stakeholders, including children and young people, in taking forward the UN Committee’s recommendations and has initiated a series of discussions on this.
Vocational Training
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people in each local authority area are enrolled on an entry to employment programme. [225086]
Jim Knight: This information is not compiled for individual local authorities. Numbers of people that enrolled on an entry to employment programme in each Learning and Skills Council local office areas, which typically cover a number of local authorities, are given in the following table. This covers the 2007/08 academic year which are the latest data available.
Young Offenders
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of people detained in young offenders' institutions (a) are from care home backgrounds, (b) are eligible for free school meals and (c) have been assessed as having special educational needs, broken down by type of special educational need. [225849]
Beverley Hughes: The information is as follows:
(a) Of the 59,500 young people looked after by local authorities at 31 March 2008, 130 were placed in a young offender institution (YOI) or prison. Data on the number of young people in YOIs who may have been looked after by local authorities earlier in their childhoods are not collected centrally.
(b) Data on the number of young people receiving free school meals prior to their entry to a YOI are not collected centrally.
(c) Data on the number of young people in YOIs assessed as having special educational needs are not collected centrally. The Learning and Skills Council collects information on the number of referrals of young people in YOIs to Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). Returns from August 2007 to July 2008 indicate that 3,320 such referrals were made over the period.
Young People: Unemployment
Mr. Frank Field:
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil of 6 October 2008,
Official Report, column 524W, on young people: unemployment, how many and what proportion of individuals in each category have not been in education, employment or training for (a) up to six months, (b) between six and 12 months, (c) between 12 and 24 months and (d) over 24 months. [227159]
Jim Knight: The Department does not hold data to enable it to break down the figures supplied in the response to the hon. Member for Yeovil by length of time spent not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Young People’s Learning Agency
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the (a) set-up and (b) running costs of the Young People's Learning Agency will be, broken down by function of the Agency. [224567]
Jim Knight: This information is not yet available. My officials continue to work with LSC, local government and other stakeholders on the blueprint for the new agency, which we intend to publish further detail on later in the autumn. I am committed to a more learner focused commissioning process that enables local authorities to make informed integrated commissioning decisions to ensure that every young person’s needs can be met in the most effective way.
Health
Abortion
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many officials in his Department have responsibility for the checking and monitoring of the notification form required by the Abortion Act 1967 as amended, broken down by pay band; and if he will make a statement. [225672]
Dawn Primarolo: There are 13 authorised officials in the Department who, as part of their duties, have direct responsibility for the checking and monitoring of the abortion notification form HSA4; some of whom work full-time on this activity, with the more senior grades undertaking this as part of their overall range of responsibilities.
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I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 1 July 2008, Official Report, column 839W.
Academic Health Science Centres
Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what criteria will be applied by academic health science centres to applications for Academic Foundation Trust status; [226011]
(2) what progress has been made in the establishment of academic health science centres; and if he will make a statement. [226013]
Mr. Bradshaw: “High Quality Care for All”, the Government’s 10-year vision for the national health service, set out the approach we intend to take to foster Academic Health Science Centres (AHSC) with the concentration of expertise and excellence that enables them to compete internationally.
We are working to define the criteria for AHSC, and these will cover excellence in patient care and education, and international excellence in biomedical and clinical research across a broad range of subjects, as well as the vision, partnership, strategy and approach to governance of the applicants for AHSC status.
An international panel of experts is currently being established, and it will assess applicants against the criteria. An open morning for potential applicants is being held on 15 October and further information will be posted on the Department’s website as it becomes available at:
AHSC will bring together partners from the NHS and higher education, and the designation process will be open to both foundation trusts and non-foundation trusts alike. There are no plans to designate Academic Foundation Trusts as part of this process: the status conferred onto successful applicants will be that of AHSC.
The Government are committed to working with interested parties to assess what could be done to support the development of governance arrangements for AHSCs, including, if necessary, changes to legislation.
Autism: Wirral
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the (a) number of adults with autism in Wirral West constituency and (b) proportion of those people who are in paid employment. [226070]
Phil Hope: Information on the number of adults with autism in Wirral, West and the proportion of those who are in paid employment is not held centrally.
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