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Irish Language Agency
Lord Laird asked Her Majesty's Government:
10 Oct 2005 : Column WA42- consulted about the relocation of the headquarters of the Irish Language Agency; and on what date. [HL1428]
Lord Rooker: Consultations on this matter are ongoing between the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure and the Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Foras na Gaeilge.
Level 3 Qualifications
Lord Desai asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are their estimates of the total number of (a) officially recognised level 3 qualifications awarded nationally, and (b) level 3 qualifications awarded by further education university access courses to students (i) of all ages, and (ii) aged 17 in each year since 1985 to 2004, and of the separate numbers of A-level equivalents of each such qualification that comprise these totals. [HL1036]
Lord Adonis: The numbers of awards of accredited level 3 qualifications by broad qualification type in each year since 1991-92—the earliest for which figures are available on a roughly comparable basis—are shown in the table below.
Source:
School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables (SCAAT), National Information System for Vocational Qualifications (NISVQ), Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
Notes:
1 NVQ figures prior to 1997–98 include Northern Ireland and Wales
2 GCE A/AS level figures include general studies
The department also collects information on accredited Vocationally Related Qualifications (VRQs) from some awarding bodies. The numbers of known awards of VRQs at level 3 are shown in the table below. Note that the coverage is incomplete and the numbers in the table do not represent all VRQ awards. Furthermore, the coverage is not consistent between years. The numbers should be treated with caution.
| Aged 17 | Total | |
| 2001-02 | 900 | 11,800 |
| 2002-03 | 3,200 | 45,100 |
| 2003-04 | 22,600 | 125,100 |
Source: NISVQ
The number of awards of university access course certificates accredited by the higher education Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in each year since 1996-97
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are shown in the table below. Neither the department, nor the QAA, holds figures for earlier years. The figures come from an aggregate collection and so cannot be split by age. However, very few of those taking university access courses will be aged 17 or under.
Source: QAA
LM Glasfiber
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville on 14 July (WA 180), what was the subsequent outcome of the contact between officials of the Department of Trade and Industry's renewables team, UK Trade and Investment's inward investment group, the British Embassy in Copenhagen and employees of LM Glasfiber, including (a) what offers of support, financial or otherwise, were made to the organisation and (b) whether LM Glasfiber sited a manufacturing facility in the United Kingdom. [HL1332]
Lord Sainsbury of Turville: LM Glasfiber received information from the north-east and north-west regions of England on potential sites. LM Glasfiber has not set-up a manufacturing facility in the UK.
Looked-after Children
The Earl of Listowel asked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps they are taking to ensure that all councils are aware of the number of looked-after children in their area. [HL1397]
Lord Adonis: Under Regulation 10 of the Arrangements for Placement of Children (General) Regulations 1991 (SI 1991 No. 890), local authorities must ensure that they keep a register of every child placed in their area (either by them or another authority). Under Regulation 5, local authorities must notify a range of bodies in writing of the arrangements for placing a child before the placement is made, including—where the child is being placed outside the authority—the local authority for that area. Where it is not practicable to do so before the placement, the notification must be arranged as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards.
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The Government are aware that these regulations are not always strictly followed. That is why the Government intend to issue further guidance on out-of-authority placements for looked after children in the autumn.
Lord Roberts of Llandudno asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they maintain a register of people, other than the child's parents, who look after children; and, if so, what guidelines are presented to individuals on the register to make them aware of child protection issues. [HL1468]
Lord Adonis: There is no central register of people who look after other people's children.
Lord Birt
Lord Hanningfield asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether arrangements are in place to ensure that when the Prime Minister's Strategy Adviser, the Lord Birt, meets clients of McKinsey and Company Incorporated, any potential conflict of interest is avoided. [HL878]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: Lord Birt's letter of appointment sets out the arrangements for the handling of any potential conflicts of interests. A copy of the letter is available, in the Library.
Baroness Wilcox asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the letter of 5 October 2001 published by the Cabinet Office setting out the terms of the Lord Birt's contract as the Prime Minister's strategy adviser, who are the members of the steering groups for the Birt reviews of transport, education and health referred to in the letter. [HL1023]
Lord Bassam of Brighton: These were internal groups chaired by Lord Birt with members drawn from across a number of departments.
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