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Employment: Figures

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "there are over one million fewer jobs in Britain than in 1990", by what measure that is true; and what is the current level.

Lord Simon of Highbury: ONS produces two measures of employment. The workforce in employment survey of employers, which counts jobs, and the labour force survey of households, which counts persons. At March 1997 the Workforce in Employment in Great Britain stood at 25,530,000, a net change of -1,025,000 jobs since June 1990. This contrasts with the Labour Force Survey, which stood

30 Jun 1997 : Column WA9

at 25,985,000 persons in employment at Winter 1996-97, a net change of -436,000 persons since Spring 1990. All figures have been adjusted for seasonal variation and are the latest figures for employment available.

Industrial Base

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that one of the underlying causes of inflation, of low growth and of unemployment is "too narrow an industrial base", how they measure the width of the industrial base, and what that measurement was at the most recent time for which figures are available.

Lord Simon of Highbury: There is no unique measure of the industrial base. The Government aim to broaden the wealth creating base by pursuing policies which will create a better skilled workforce and a modernised infrastructure, encourage investment, help nurture small firms and new technologies, and attack long-term and youth unemployment.

Sixth Form Colleges: Funding

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they intend that, in the long term, sixth form colleges and schools should be funded at the same rate in respect of their A-level students.

The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone): The Government's overall aim is to ensure high quality provision that meets the needs of all students age 16-19 in an efficient and effective manner. The Government are continuing research into the comparative funding costs of different education and training routes for 16-19 year-old students.

Youth Services: Provision

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether there is sufficient provision of youth clubs and similar facilities in the UK, and, if not, what they propose to do about it.

Baroness Blackstone: Local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland are responsible for the provision of youth services in their areas. Her Majesty's Government are taking forward proposals for an audit of youth service provision in England and are considering a similar audit in Wales. This will provide definitive, up-to-date information to inform central and local government's strategic long-term plans for the service. There are no plans for a similar audit in Scotland, but Scotland has a strong youth sector with a wide range of facilities in most communities run either by the statutory or voluntary sector. Youth work provision within the statutory sector is reviewed on a

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regular basis. In Northern Ireland the responsibility for ensuring adequate facilities of this sort rests with the education and library boards.

Higher Education

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they are content for some universities to charge top-up fees; and if so, how they propose that poorer children should be enabled to pay such fees.

Baroness Blackstone: It would be premature for any university to introduce top-up fees in advance of the report of the Dearing Inquiry into Higher Education and the follow-up to the report. We shall be considering very carefully the recommendations of the report on the future development and funding of higher education, having regard to our policy to widen opportunities for all individuals to enable them to fulfil their intellectual and personal potential and to engage in learning throughout life.

Communication Skills in Schools

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

How they intend to promote the teaching of communication skills in schools.

Baroness Blackstone: The National curriculum will continue as the main vehicle for developing communication skills pre-16. A communications unit (module) is mandatory in Part One GNVQ, currently available on a pilot basis in some schools for 14-16 year-olds.

Education: Spending

Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:

What plans they have to include the overall level of school balances for an individual LEA within any future grant settlement or standard spending assessment for that authority;

In view of the statements of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that there will be no changes to the spending allocations for education, whether they anticipate changing the current legislation (the Education Act 1988) to allow themselves to use the balances held by individual schools to help fund the reduction in class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds; and

Whether they foresee any occasion where they would be prepared to use the balances currently held by individual schools to support LEA education budgets.

Baroness Blackstone: We have no immediate plans on these issues, but we shall review all aspects of the department's spending priorities, including school funding methodologies, as part of the arrangements announced on 11 June by my right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

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School Balances

Lord Tope asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the level of balances held by:

(a) primary schools; and

(b) secondary schools;

for each LEA at the end of 1996-97.

Baroness Blackstone: The information requested is not yet available for 1996-97. The following table sets out the corresponding information for 1995-96 in respect of primary and secondary schools maintained by local education authorities, in England.

Primary and Secondary School Balances LEAs--England 1995-96

	Primary (£000s)	Secondary (£000s)
Avon	n/a	n/a
Barking & Dagenham	1,841	936
Barnet	2,926	1,302
Barnsley	1,486	537
Bedfordshire	3,818	2,174
Berkshire	4,960	1,481
Bexley	907	610
Birmingham	10,025	2,682
Bolton	2,257	327
Bradford	2,282	1,175
Brent	3,631	-263
Bromley	2,235	115
Buckinghamshire	5,317	2,315
Bury	1,511	685
Calderdale	1,250	485
Cambridgeshire	5,730	1,896
Camden	2,831	1,630
Cheshire	8,589	4,911
Cleveland	5,417	2,080
Cornwall	5,105	3,414
Corporation of London	-3	0
Coventry	4,272	2,417
Croydon	2,331	764
Cumbria	1,298	-200
Derbyshire	5,231	1,339
Devon	4,548	2,222
Doncaster	2,835	959
Dorset	3,142	532
Dudley	1,024	382
Durham	4,949	2,689
Ealing	2,466	328
East Sussex	3,946	2,966
Enfield	3,105	1,418
Essex	17,124	2,677
Gateshead	1,145	273
Gloucestershire	3,979	446
Greenwich	4,150	915
Hackney	1,594	93
Hammersmith and Fulham	1,269	767
Hampshire	16,613	4,563
Haringey	2,824	250
Harrow	1,269	225
Havering	2,047	1,683
Hereford and Worcester	6,439	3,104
Hertfordshire	10,078	5,113
Hillingdon	1,833	-42
Hounslow	2,518	1,201
Humberside	5,180	3,636
Isle of Wight	834	367
Isles of Scilly	11	14
Islington	1,930	-56
Kensington and Chelsea	893	288
Kent	8,663	4,599
Kingston upon Thames	1,423	294
Kirklees	1,952	318
Knowsley	918	124
Lambeth	1,228	424
Lancashire	16,129	5,544
Leeds	3,479	-449
Leicestershire	6,817	2,966
Lewisham	1,498	1,431
Lincolnshire	3,337	2,164
Liverpool	3,907	1,694
Manchester	-1,614	-2,607
Merton	2,183	699
Newcastle upon Tyne	2,185	1,934
Newham	2,081	1,389
Norfolk	5,720	1,909
North Tyneside	344	206
North Yorkshire	7,554	4,449
Northamptonshire	4,994	3,142
Northumberland	1,610	1,065
Nottinghamshire	7,497	3,321
Oldham	117	65
Oxfordshire	6,009	3,654
Redbridge	1,375	526
Richmond upon Thames	1,431	566
Rochdale	560	-446
Rotherham	378	136
Salford	1,940	527
Sandwell	3,469	459
Sefton	3,366	2,299
Sheffield	1,204	737
Shropshire	3,221	1,441
Solihull	1,966	1,469
Somerset	4,742	3,779
South Tyneside	1,250	406
Southwark	3,173	1,079
St. Helens	2,218	1,881
Staffordshire	7,192	3,483
Stockport	1,844	1,278
Suffolk	5,604	4,657
Sunderland	874	119
Surrey	9,075	1,827
Sutton	1,382	247
Tameside	1,088	340
Tower Hamlets	2,760	1,936
Trafford	125	97
Wakefield	1,706	145
Walsall	2,268	431
Waltham Forest	2,376	716
Wandsworth	2,280	193
Warwickshire	3,912	1,253
West Sussex	2,644	1,259
Westminster	2,514	-165
Wigan	2,900	2,013
Wiltshire	4,690	1,720
Wirral	1,448	891
Wolverhampton	2,954	582

Notes:

The figures have been derived from the LMS outturn statements prepared by LEAs under section 122 of the Education Act 1996 (formerly section 42 of the Education Reform Act 1988).

Middle schools have been assigned to the primary or secondary sectors as appropriate.

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