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24 Feb 2009 : Column 602W—continued
£136,500 granted over the last three years to Swim Torquay Limited for extension of facilities which is heavily used for swimming lessons for young people.
Falmouth Youth Club was awarded £300,000 for the Dracaena Centre in 2007 (this was a CIF award).
Young people will also benefit from funding targeted to the wider community.
In addition to built facilities, in the last five years (April 2003-to date) Sport England has invested in 216 projects in the South West. Projects which would benefit young people specifically include:
Sport Unlimited This project is in its second year and it constitutes Sport England's part of the 5 hour sport offer.
The Youth Sport Trust is delivering two hours of sport via PE in schools plus one hour of extra curricular sport.
The Step into Sport programme which amounts to £770,000 focuses on young people aged 14 to 19 started three years ago. It provides opportunities for young people to become involved in sports leadership and volunteering encouraging them to continue this into later life
Many cultural initiatives in the South West Region are supported by Arts Council England including DAISI (Devon Arts in Schools Initiative) and The Wren Music Trust.
In February 2008 the Government announced the new £25 million Find Your Talent (FYT) pathfinder programme to trial different ways of delivering a five hour cultural offer for children and young people from 0-19.
North Somerset is one of ten Find Your Talent pathfinder areas launched in September 2008. The pathfinders, working in partnership with schools and local and national organisations over three years, will provide opportunities for children and young people to have a range of high quality arts and cultural experiences in and out of school.
“Awards For All” is a Lottery Grants scheme for local communities. Managed by the Big Lottery Fund, in the last five years, 5381 awards in the South West, the majority of these projects will affect young people.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Apprentices
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of apprenticeship training providers funded by the Learning and Skills Council were employers in each year since 2001. [254167]
Mr. Simon [holding answer 3 February 2009]: The information on the number of employers who are apprenticeship training providers is not available. Table 1 shows the percentage of apprenticeship starts in 2005/06 to 2007/08 at each type of provider.
Many of these organisation types such as ‘Organisation In Business In Its Own Right’ and ‘Other Private Organisation’ could be training providers or employers. It is not possible to specifically identify employers without surveying all Learning and Skills Council partnership teams, and this would not provide wholly accurate information.
| Table 1: Percentage of apprenticeship starts in an academic year by provider type, 2005/06 to 2007/08 | |||
| Provider type | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 |
| (1) Indicates a figure of 0% when rounded. Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent. Source: WBL ILR | |||
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what arrangements there are for co-ordination between the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Employment Service in their programmes of work. [254371]
Mr. Simon: There will be a Service Level Agreement between the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Employer Service. This will outline how apprenticeship provision will be managed by the National Employer Service on behalf of the National Apprenticeship Service working with large national employers who need a one stop shop approach. The National Apprenticeship Service will have its own chief executive who will be required to work closely with the Skills Funding Agency's chief executive to deliver apprenticeships as part of a coherent strategy dealing with a wide range of employers.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the merits of increasing the proportion of the training costs of adult apprentices paid by employers. [254705]
Mr. Simon [holding answer 9 February 2009]: It is a key principle of Government funding of adult learning that there is a shared responsibility on the part of learners, employers and the Government to contribute towards the costs of learning. The Skills Strategy White Paper 21st Century Skills: Realising our Potential (published in July 2003) set out our intention that employers and learners should contribute towards the cost of their course, in light of the returns they derive from learning. Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances (March 2006) confirmed our intention to increase learner and/or employer fee contributions to 50 per cent. by 2010-11 for those not eligible for free provision. Lord Leitch's Review of Skills (December 2006) reaffirmed the importance for a shared responsibility to invest in skills with employers and learners asked to contribute most where they see the greatest private returns. We are therefore increasing private fee contributions for both employers and learners from 42.5 per cent. in 2008-09, to 47.5 per cent. for 2009-10 and 50 per cent. for 2010-11.
Apprenticeship funding rates for adults therefore are lower than rates for young people aged 16-18, with employers expected to contribute to the total cost of an adult apprenticeship framework. Employer contributions may be in cash to the training provider or in kind through supporting the delivery of the training activity.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage the uptake of part-time apprenticeships. [256833]
Mr. Simon: Apprenticeship frameworks are designed to meet both the skills needs of employers and individuals. Like employment in general there is no presumption that they be full-time or part-time although custom and practice will differ between employers and across sectors. Any employee should be able to apply for an apprenticeship irrespective of whether they work full or part-time and we are making special efforts to break down gender or race stereotypes in apprenticeships. Our aim is to encourage the take-up of apprenticeships. The Government are committed to rebuilding apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007-08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeship—up from 27 per cent. in 1997. A remarkable achievement.
Apprentices: Cumbria
Mr. Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what percentage of people taking up apprenticeship schemes in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency in each of the last five years were disabled; [255028]
(2) what percentage of people taking up apprenticeships in (a) Cumbria and (b) Copeland constituency in each of the last five years were female. [255032]
Mr. Simon:
Tables 1-4 show apprenticeship starts by learning difficulty and/or disability and gender, in Cumbria local authority and Copeland constituency. Figures are presented from 2003-04 to 2007-08, the latest year for which fully audited data are available. We are also
looking at schemes which will encourage employers to see the potential in recruiting disabled people for apprenticeships.
| Table 1—Apprenticeship starts in Cumbria local authority by learning difficulty and/or disability | |||||
| % | |||||
| Cumbria local authority | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
| Table 2 —Apprenticeship starts in Copeland constituency by learning difficulty and/or disability | |||||
| % | |||||
| Copeland c onstituency | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
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