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18 Mar 2009 : Column 1198W—continued
Students: Loans
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) how many students domiciled in the EU but not in the UK have loans with the Student Loans Company; [260876]
(2) how much owed by students domiciled in the EU but not in the UK is (a) due to have been repaid to the Student Loans Company and (b) due to have been repaid but not been received by the Student Loans Company; [260880]
(3) how many students domiciled in the EU but not in the UK are (a) due to have begun loan repayments to the Student Loans Company and (b) due to have begun loan repayments to the Student Loans Company but have not done so. [260883]
Mr. Lammy: EU students became eligible for tuition fee loans when they were introduced in 2006/07. Provisional figures published in table 2 (iii) of the Student Loans SFR issued in June 2008 show that 16,890 EU students studying in England have taken out a tuition fee loan with the Student Loans Company. The SFR is accessible at:
The first full cohort of EU borrowers will graduate this summer, and will become due to start repaying their loans from April 2010. However, a small number have left their courses early, and become due to repay. As at 31 March 2008, 130 EU Student Loans customers studying in England were liable to start repaying their loan, provided their earnings were above the earnings threshold.
30 customers were known to be due to repay, and started to do so. The amount due to be repaid by 31 March 2008 (excluding the amounts due for repayment via Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which are not yet known) is less than £10,000.
10 customers were not due to repay as they were unemployed or their earnings were below the relevant earnings threshold.
It was not possible, as at 31 March 2008, to determine if 100 customers were due to repay or not. This group includes those where the first tax year’s earnings (and hence repayment liability) had not yet been passed from the employer to HMRC to SLC. It also includes those who were resident overseas and the earnings details were still needed to determine whether repayment should start.
Note:
Following usual statistical practice, figures have been rounded to the closed 10 so the breakdown figures will not add up to 130 as shown in the second paragraph. It is not currently possible to disclose information for the period after 31 March 2008. This is because, following National Statistics protocol, the statistics are under embargo until their publication in the Statistical First Release due in summer 2009.
Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many graduates are continuing to repay mortgage-style student loans taken out before 1998. [261859]
Mr. Lammy:
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education on 10 September 2008, Official Report, column 1939-41W. The latest published
figures on numbers of graduates continuing to repay pre-1998 mortgage-style student loans is laid out by category as part of the answer to your previous question 220225.
The response remains the same because the information is based on figures prepared for the most recent annual Statistical First Release. It is not currently possible to disclose information for the period after 31 March 2008 because, following National Statistics protocol, the statistics for the period ended 31 March 2009 will be embargoed until their publication in the Statistical First Release due in June/July 2009.
Vocational Training: Car Industry
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what training schemes are available to car component company staff who have lost their jobs owing to reductions in car production during the economic downturn. [253815]
Mr. Simon: Train to Gain are the Government’s flagship service to support employers in England of all sizes and in all sectors, to invest in the future productivity and profitability of their businesses by investing in the skills of their employees.
A compact agreed between my Department and SEMTA, the sector skills council covering all aspects of motor vehicle manufacturing, offers employers tailored Train to Gain funding and support to meet their specific training needs. The funding for this compact has been increased from £65 million to £100 million over three years, subject to employer demand.
New flexibility has also been introduced for people who have been given notice of redundancy, or who are returning to work after unemployment. They can now access full funding for repeat level 2 qualifications and partial funding for repeat level 3 qualifications irrespective of the size of their employer.
From April 2009, a new package of pre-employment support will also be available. People made redundant will be offered a fully-funded range of customised skills activity of two to eight weeks’ duration designed to help them into sustainable employment. For people who have been employed for over six months, we are making £83 million available for around 75,000 high-quality training places over the next two years.
Employers can contact a skills broker to find out the support that their business can access through Train to Gain. Brokers, providers and the LSC will work with each individual employer to quickly put together a comprehensive training package tailored to the size and type of company, drawing on all available funding streams.
Vocational Training: Prisons
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what arrangements have been made for the provision of vocational training courses within prisons. [264006]
Mr. Simon:
Providing vocational training for prisoners is a key part of the Government’s strategy to reduce reoffending. Developing the skills prisoners need to get
jobs on release will enable them to secure employment, and employment is one of the key factors that lead to reduced reoffending.
Through the Offender Learning and Skills Service, the Learning and Skills Council provides a broad range of vocational training courses in prisons across England. As the Learning and Skills Council introduces its core curriculum into adult prisons this summer, 80 per cent. of its learning and skills spend will be focused on employability skills, the core functional skills (including literacy and numeracy) and accredited vocational qualifications.
The Prison Service also delivers accredited vocational training to prisoners undertaking regime activities such as catering, cleaning, horticulture, waste management and physical education, and who are working in prison industries.
Work and Pensions
Children: Maintenance
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many absent parents who are self-employed were subject to court action by the Child Support Agency in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what percentage of such cases resulted in (a) a court order requiring payments to be made to the parent with care and (b) such payments being made. [259532]
Kitty Ussher: I have consulted with the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission who have confirmed that the information requested is not available.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many absent parents who are self-employed were subject to court action by the Child Support Agency in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what percentage of such cases resulted in (a) a court order requiring payments to be made to the parent with care and (b) such payments actually being made. [259532]
Information on the total number of enforcement actions the Child Support Agency has pursued through the courts is
routinely published in Table 21 of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics. The latest copy of which is in the House of Commons library or online at the following link:
Unfortunately the information that you have requested relating to self-employed non-resident parents is not available as the information held centrally relating to enforcement actions does not distinguish between the employment status of the non-resident parent.
I am sorry I cannot be more helpful.
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many calls have been received by the Child Maintenance Options helpline in each month since it became operational; [260116]
(2) how many calls to the Child Maintenance Options helpline have been (a) answered and (b) abandoned in each month since it became operational; [260117]
(3) what the average time was to answer a call to the Child Maintenance Options helpline in each month since it became operational; [260118]
(4) what the average duration of calls to the Child Maintenance Options helpline was in each month since it became operational. [260119]
Kitty Ussher: The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is responsible for the child maintenance system. I have therefore asked the Child Maintenance Commissioner to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about child maintenance, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner.
You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions:
How many calls have been received by the Child Maintenance Options helpline in each month since it became operational [260116]; and
How many calls to the Child Maintenance Options helpline have been (a) answered and (b) abandoned in each month since it became operational [260117]; and
What the average time was to answer a call to the Child Maintenance Options helpline in each month since it became operational [260118]; and
What the average duration of calls to the Child Maintenance Options helpline was in each month since it became operational. [260119]
The information you requested is provided in the attached table, from which you will see that a consistently high level of service is being offered to clients of Child Maintenance Options.
I hope you find this answer helpful.
| Child maintenance options , 2008 | ||||||
| July ( 5) | August | September | October | November | December | |
| (1) Figures for the calls received and the number of calls answered are rounded to the nearest 100. (2) Calls received exclude those outside working hours. (3) Figures for the number of calls abandoned, average time to answer a call and the average duration of calls are rounded to the nearest five. (4) Calls abandoned are those who have listened to the initial greeting and then: have had a short call and hung up while speaking to an agent; have hung up before speaking to an agent; or have hung up while in a queue. (5) Figures for July include those from the prototype phase of the service as well as the live running from 14 July onwards. | ||||||
Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission has made to the courts for the confiscation of (a) passports and (b) driving licences in the last 12 months; and how many confiscations there have been. [264234]
Kitty Ussher [holding answer 17 March 2009]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Vauxhall (Kate Hoey) on 24 February 2009, Official Report, columns 622-23W.
Community Care Grants
Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will review the operation of the savings rule of housing renewal exclusions in community care grants. [264112]
Kitty Ussher: Community care grants can only be made for minor household repairs and improvements. The community care grant savings rule applies to all grant awards, which means that all savings over a set limit are fully taken into account against the amount of an award. Currently the limit is £500 where the applicant and their partner is under 60 years of age, and £1,000 where the applicant or their partner is 60 years of age or over. There are no plans to review this rule.
Council Tax
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times deductions have been made from benefits for non-payment of council tax in each local authority area since August 2007; and how many claimants have had deductions made from their (a) pension credit, (b) jobseeker’s allowance and (c) income support for not paying council tax in each local authority area since August 2007. [262003]
Kitty Ussher: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 25 February 2009, Official Report, columns 791-92W.
Departmental Consultants
Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many expert advisers, excluding special advisers, have been commissioned by his Department since June 2007; and on which topics they have advised. [254739]
Jonathan Shaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 January 2009, Official Report, column 1402W.
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