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29 Mar 2010 : Column 806W—continued
Nurses: Vacancies
Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of nursing vacancies in the NHS at the end of August 2010. [323769]
Ann Keen: We do not hold estimates of likely vacancies centrally.
Vacancy data as at 31 March are published annually by the NHS Information Centre in August of the same year.
Patients: Safety
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of (a) fatal and (b) other patient safety incidents in the latest year for which figures were available; and how many such incidents of each type there were in that year. [323913]
Ann Keen: The following table, supplied by the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), sets out the number of incidents reported in England by degree of harm and incident type that occurred for the period July 2008 to June 2009.
Postgraduate Education
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has for the future of its restrictions on access to post-graduate medical education for non-EEA graduates; and if he will make a statement. [324649]
Ann Keen: The Department undertook a consultation exercise about managing medical migration last year and there was strong support for the restrictions on access to post-graduate medical education by non-European economic area graduates and there has been no change in circumstance since then that indicates a review is required.
Primary Care Trusts: Finance
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2010, Official Report, column 925W, on health services: disadvantage, what the total population was of (a) spearhead and (b) non-spearhead area primary care trusts in each year. [323836]
Angela E. Smith: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:
The following table contains for Spearhead and non-Spearhead primary care trusts population estimates for mid-2006 to mid-2008, and population projections for mid-2009 from ONS 2006-based Subnational Population Projections.
| Population estimates/projections for Spearhead and non-Spearhead Primary Care Trusts, mid-2006 to mid-2009 | |||
| Thousand | |||
| Spearhead PCTs | Non-Spearhead PCTs | Total | |
| Notes: 1. The Spearhead Group is identified in terms of local authority areas. It comprises the 'worst' fifth of local authorities for at least three out of five selected indicators, covering male life expectancy at birth, female life expectancy at birth, cancer mortality rate for under 75s, circulatory disease mortality rate for under 75s, and the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004 average score. 2. Spearhead PCTs are those that overlap geographically, either wholly or partly, with the Spearhead local authorities. Spearhead PCTs on old and new boundaries cover slightly different populations. 3. Figures for mid-2007 to mid-2009 are based on PCT boundaries following the October 2006 NHS reorganisation. Mid-2006 figures are based on old PCT boundaries. 4. The figures for mid-2006 to mid-2008 are population estimates, the figures for mid-2009 are population projections from CXNS 2006-based Subnational Population Projections. Source: Office for National Statistics | |||
Business, Innovation and Skills
Adult Education: Finance
Stephen Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on deaf and hearing impaired people of the Learning and Skills Council's decision to reduce funding for adult further education, including qualifications in British Sign Language by £200 million in 2010-11. [324734]
Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) are responsible for the funding of further education (FE) and skills training for adult learners aged 19 and over.
The Skills Investment Strategy (November 2009) set out measures that would make £340 million of efficiency savings in the 2010-11 financial year. Despite these savings, investment in adult participation budget will be £3.5 billion in 2010-11 financial year: an increase of 2.9 per cent. compared with 2009-10 financial year.
Within the total investment, we have committed to maintaining funding for the same volumes of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities as a priority group of learners. This may include individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is for FE colleges and training organisations to determine their offer to these learners in line with their level of need.
Apprentices: Equality
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer to question 322635, what recent initiatives his Department has funded to increase gender equality in participation in level 3 advanced apprenticeships. [325004]
Kevin Brennan: Apprenticeships are open to those aged 16 and over, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability or religious belief. Participation in apprenticeships has increased threefold over the last decade. A great deal of work is being, done to improve access further and increase gender equality in participation at all levels.
The percentage of young women following an apprenticeship framework at Level 3 rather than Level 2 has risen from 14 per cent. in 2003/04 to 18 per cent. in 2008/09. The percentage of young men on an advanced apprenticeship has remained at 31 per cent.
Recent activity to address gender inequalities in apprenticeships includes:
Creation of the National Apprenticeships Service (NAS) with end-to-end responsibility for apprenticeships delivery. NAS is under a same legal duty to promote equality and diversity and one of their objectives is to:
"Increase the number, quality and background of people applying for Apprenticeships."
NAS work with employers to help them understand and be more responsive to the needs of learners in non-traditional occupations, and promote Apprenticeships to people from these groups.
NAS are working to develop resources on apprenticeships for careers education in schools and with information advice and guidance providers to encourage young people to think about apprenticeships in a non-stereotypical way.
Extending apprenticeships to over 25's has seen a greater number of women taking up an apprenticeship. 63 per cent. of people aged 25 and over starting an apprenticeship in 2008/09 were female.
We have invested £7 million to create Group Training Associations and Apprenticeship Training Agencies, with a specific remit to encourage atypical learners to take up apprenticeships.
We have also invested £2.3 million to create diversity pilots in targeted areas for gender, BME and disabled learners, those in non-traditional occupations and their employers.
NAS have set up an online mentoring platform through horse's mouth-open to all apprentices. 54 mentors registered so far.
The minimum wage for apprentices increased from £80 to £95 a week last year. It is young women-apprentices like those in hairdressing and care-who have benefitted most from this increase. On 25 March 2010 the Government announced their acceptance of the Low Pay Commission's recommendations concerning apprenticeship pay. This will mean that from 1 October 2010 the present exemption from the NMW for apprentices will be ended and all apprentices in the United Kingdom must be paid at least £2.50 an hour.
We have also committed £5 million to develop new frameworks at Levels 3 and 4 and we are creating up to 35,000 new advanced apprenticeship places for 19 to 30-year-olds over the next two years.
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