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2 Feb 2010 : Column 282W—continued
Further Education: Finance
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the funding formulae for further education courses. [314274]
Kevin Brennan: Our current funding system for provision for further education (FE) and skills has three models: 16 to 18-year-old learners: Adult Learner Responsive and Employer Responsive. This new funding model was adopted in the 2008/09 academic year following extensive consultation with schools, FE colleges and other training organisations.
To assess the possible impact of the new system on the diversity of learners, particularly with regard to gender, race and disability, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) commissioned a single equality impact assessment review in November 2007. This review found no evidence of direct discrimination as result of the design or implementation of the changes to the funding system. To evaluate the operational impact of demand-led funding after its first year of funding, the LSC Board has commissioned an independent review. This will evaluate views of FE colleges and training organisations who deliver provision for learners aged 16 and over. It will also look at national datasets to assess what effect the new funding system may have had on volumes and types of learner. The review is ongoing and is expected to report in the spring.
Graduates: Vocational Training
Tim Farron: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the cost per head of providing training for all graduates under the age of 24 years who have been unemployed for at least six months. [309542]
Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
The training elements of the Graduate Guarantee will be delivered through the work-focused training parts of the Six Month Offer and Young Person's Guarantee, the average costs of which are estimated to be £1,100 and £1,500, respectively.
Training typically lasts between eight and 26 weeks.
Greenwich University
Andrew Mackinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment has been made of the capacity of the University of Greenwich to find suitable teaching placements for its Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector for students; and if he will make a statement. [314086]
Kevin Brennan: To be able to deliver a DTLLS course, the university of Greenwich will have had to gain endorsement for their course by Standards Verification UK (SVUK), the body responsible for the verification of Further Education Initial Teacher Training qualifications.
A core requirement for a DTLLS course, without which endorsement by SVUK would not be granted, is that there must be provision for a minimum of 150 hours of teaching practice. No one can complete their DTLLS qualification without undergoing appropriate and satisfactory teaching practice.
Placements for those undertaking DTLLS are negotiated on an ongoing basis by the university delivering the course with the FE and other education providers in their surrounding areas.
Higher Education
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether (a) the Secretary of State and (b) Ministers in his Department have discussed with the Higher Education Funding Council for England a timetable to take forward its six proposals for new higher education centres under its University Challenge initiative. [314915]
Mr. Lammy: As set out in Higher Ambitions, we are committed to the enhancement of locally accessible higher education through a new University Challenge initiative. In October last year, HEFCE announced that six further outline proposals could be taken forward, including one in the Wirral. The timing for submission of full business cases will be decided in the context of the next spending review.
Higher Education: Part-time Education
Jim Cousins:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many part-time students have registered for a higher
education course at (a) Newcastle college, (b) Northumbria university and (c) Newcastle university in each year since 2006. [313758]
Mr. Lammy: The numbers of part-time entrants to Northumbria university and Newcastle university in each year since 2006 are provided in the table. Information for part-time entrants to Newcastle college is not available.
| Part-time entrants( 1) to Northumbria university and Newcastle university, academic years 2006/07 to 2008/09 | ||
| Academic year | Northumbria u niversity | Newcastle u niversity |
| (1) Covers entrants of all ages and domiciles to postgraduate and undergraduate courses. Notes: 1. Figures are based on a HESA Standard Registration Population. 2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record | ||
National Vocational Qualifications
Alan Keen: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the five most popular NVQ level 4 qualifications were in the latest period for which figures are available. [313297]
Mr. Lammy: NVQ level 4 courses are offered by English higher education institutions and further education colleges, as well as in the workplace. The five NVQ level 4 courses with the highest numbers of enrolments at English higher education institutions are provided in table 1. Figures are for the 2008/09 academic year.
The five Learning and Skills Council-funded NVQ level 4 courses with the highest numbers of enrolments are provided in table 2. These figures are provisional and cover the 2008/09 academic year.
Note that the course classifications used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency and the LSC are different and so it is not possible to combine the figures in tables 1 and 2.
| Table 1: NVQ level 4 enrolments( 1) by subject of study: English higher education institutions academic year 2008/09 | |
| Subject of study | Enrolments |
| (1) Covers students of all ages enrolled on full-time and part-time courses. Notes: 1. Figures are based on HESA Standard Registration Population. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest five. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) | |
Overseas Trade: Kazakhstan
Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value of trade between the UK and Kazakhstan was in each of the last three years. [314629]
Ian Lucas: Data on recorded trade in goods with Kazakhstan are shown in the following table:
| £ million | ||
| UK exports of goods to Kazakhstan | UK imports of goods from Kazakhstan | |
| (1 )January to November. Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics | ||
Consistent estimates of trade in services are not available for the full three years. ONS data published in the UK Balance of Payments Pink Book 2009 were:
| £ million | ||
| UK exports of services to Kazakhstan | UK imports of services from Kazakhstan | |
Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what barriers to increasing trade between the UK and Kazakhstan his Department has identified. [314636]
Ian Lucas: The UK has worked closely with the European Commission, business and EU member states in identifying key market access barriers to trade with Kazakhstan as part of the EU's Market Access Strategy. The department has also been following the process of Kazakhstan's WTO accession process as an avenue for improving market access for UK business.
While we are working to reduce the negative impact of several market access problems, Kazakhstan offers many good opportunities for UK companies to do profitable business. UKTI is actively exploring the potential in the energy, education and financial services sectors.
Mr. Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which 10 UK companies had the highest monetary value of trade with Kazakhstan in each of the last three years. [314637]
Ian Lucas: For reasons of commercial and statistical confidentiality, neither HM Revenue and Customs nor the Office for National Statistics publish details of the value of trade for individual companies.
Risk and Regulation Advisory Council: Public Relations
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2009, Official Report, column 344W, on Risk and Regulation Advisory Council: public relations, for what reasons departmental officials were not used to undertake the work under the contracts with external public relations firms. [314848]
Ian Lucas: The Risk and Regulation Advisory Council (RRAC) was set up as an independent ad hoc advisory body. The small support team within the Strategic Policy Analysis Group in BERR (now BIS) did not have the resources or specialist knowledge required to manage communications and public relations in-house. The use of internal (BERR) resources was not a viable option, as it would compromise the RRAC's independence. As an advisory body independent of government, the RRAC could not have public relations and communications support handled by Government communications and press offices.
Telecommunications
Mr. Watson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will assess the ability of third party services to provide access to next generation and mobile networks. [310971]
Mr. Timms: Regulation of access to communications networks is a matter for the regulator, Ofcom. The Government would expect all networks built using public funds to conform to an open access model to enable third parties to offer services.
Trade: Developing Countries
Mr. Soames: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the prospects for agreement in the Doha trade round. [314789]
Ian Lucas: At the Pittsburgh summit in September G20 leaders renewed their commitment to conclude the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in 2010, and instructed Ministers to take stock of the situation no later than early 2010. At the World Trade Organisation (WTO) regular ministerial meeting in Geneva in December, Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to conclude the round in 2010 and for a stock take in the first quarter of the year. Discussions are continuing among senior officials at the WTO. Pascal Lamy, the WTO director general, has said that the format and content of the stock take has yet to be decided. Much will be dependent on progress between now and then.
The Government remain fully committed to an ambitious, pro-development outcome to the Doha round. We will continue to work closely with our EU and international partners to conclude the round as early as possible.
Train to Gain Programme: Devon
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many residents of (a) Devon and (b) Torbay constituency who have registered for Train to Gain courses have not yet commenced their training; [313166]
(2) how many people resident in (a) Devon and (b) Torbay constituency have successfully completed a Train to Gain course. [313167]
Kevin Brennan: Information is not collected centrally on the number of learners who have registered for a Train to Gain course but have not yet started their training.
Table 1 shows the number of Train to Gain Achievements in Devon local authority and Torbay parliamentary constituency in 2008/09.
| Table 1: Train to Gain Achievements, 2008/09 | |
| Number of Achievements | |
| Notes: 1. The figure for Torbay parliamentary constituency is rounded to the nearest 10. The figure for Devon local authority is rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. Figures are based upon home postcode of the learner. Source: Individualised Learner Record. | |
Information on the number of Train to Gain starts and achievements is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December, and re-issued on 21 January to include provisional national estimates of the number of Train to Gain starts and achievements in the first quarter of 2009/10:
Supplementary table 7 shows Train to Gain starts and achievements by parliamentary constituency, local authority and Government office region.
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