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Ministers' discussions are likely to focus on the continued role of the EU monitoring mission (EUMM), whose mandate is due for renewal in September. Ministers are also likely to take into account the outcome of discussions in New York on the renewal of the UN mission's mandate and the possibilities for increased co-operation between international missions on the ground.
Higher Education: 16-19 Funding
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Children, Schools and Families (Baroness Morgan of Drefelin): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
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Budget 2009 announced an additional investment of £655 million over the next two years to ensure that every young person aged 16 and 17 who wants to study or take up a training place will have their place guaranteed by the Government under the September guarantee. £251 million of this investment is being used to fund 54,500 places and additional support for young people from this September, bringing our total investment in the education and training of young people to £6.8 billion in 2009-10.
In March, schools, colleges and other training providers told us that the allocations they had received would not meet the increase in local demand they were already experiencing or were expecting from September 2009. Budget 2009 now allows us to provide funding for the additional 32,000 learner places schools and colleges notified us of earlier in the spring, and to make provision for a further 22,500 learners who we expect will want a place in learning later this year. This is necessary for us to meet the September guarantee.
I am today announcing the regional breakdown of the £77 million investment which is funding the further 22,500 places. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has recently notified schools, colleges and training providers of these allocations, which are focused on supporting young people who would otherwise be at risk of becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training).
Our investment means we have increased the number of places available this September and next by 54,500 to an all time high of more than 1.55 million. Together with the 17,500 apprenticeships places for young people announced by the Prime Minister, that is 72,000 young people more than were first set out in the LSC’s annual statement of priorities in November 2008. This funding means that we can make sure that young people who are especially vulnerable have a suitable offer of a place by expanding the entry to employment programme by 13,000 places in 2009-10.
This is a huge investment in the skills of our young people to ensure that they can gain the skills and confidence to put them on the path to economic prosperity and to prepare the country so it is well placed for economic recovery with young people having the skills base it needs. We must make sure that every young person knows the wide range of education and training options open to them under the September guarantee. We expect the Connexions Service, schools, colleges and other providers to work with the local authorities to deliver the guarantee.
We know that the recession will continue to have an impact on the choices being made by young people over the summer and may increase demand further for learning and training places. I have therefore asked the Association of School and College Leadership, the Association of Colleges and the LSC to monitor the situation and to report to me after the bulk of the recruitment for the 2009-10 academic year has taken place this September. This will also inform our plans for the 2010-11 academic year and will be crucial as we make the transition from the LSC to local authority led commissioning. I will then make a further assessment of the situation, with my Cabinet colleagues, to ensure that all young people who want one can have a suitable place at school, college or training provider.
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Regional analysis of 16-18 allocation to schools, colleges and other providers—excluding apprenticeships and entry to employment provision, 2009-10
| Region | Post Budget 09 Allocation (excludes E2E and apprenticeships) | Allocation of extra 22,540 places | Allocation of extra 22,540 places |
1. The matching to local authority and hence to region is done on best fit and derived from post code of the head office of the providers to whom the allocation is made. It is possible for these providers to operate across more than one authority area, although there is no double counting of the funding allocations.
2. The figures by region do not include allocations for entry to employment provision or apprenticeships.
3. The figures by region do not include any allocations for academies, SEN, or teacher pay grant.
4. The total figures shown for SEN and teachers pay grant are for the 2009-10 financial year as this is how this funding is allocated. As such they are not directly comparable to the other funding figures which are all 2009-10 academic year based.
Minimum Wage
Statement
The First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Lord President of the Council (Lord Mandelson): I am pleased to announce that the Government have today written to the Low Pay Commission setting out the remit for its 2010 report.
Monitor, evaluate and review the national minimum wage (NMW) and its impact, with particular reference to the effect on pay, employment and competitiveness in the low paying sectors and small firms; the effect on different groups of workers, including different age groups, ethnic minorities, women and people with disabilities and migrant workers and the effect on pay structures.
Review the levels of each of the different minimum wage rates and make recommendations for October 2010. The commission is also asked to make provisional rate recommendations as appropriate for October 2011.
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Consider the detailed arrangements for an apprentice minimum wage under the NMW framework (as set out in the NMW Act 1998), and to recommend the rate and arrangements that should replace the existing exemptions, together with the timing for its introduction.
The commission is asked to do this with reference to:
the issues and groups to which they have particular regard when reviewing the established rates, as laid out above;the need to ensure that sufficient volume, quality and sectoral variety of apprentice places are available to meet government targets, in particular when the education participation age is raised in England in 2013 and 2015; andthe effective functioning of the education market and young people’s choices with reference to the level of financial payment available on other education and training routes.Report to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by the end of February 2010.
The new terms of reference for the Low Pay Commission follow the Government's acceptance of the commission's recommendations in its 2009 report on introducing a minimum wage for apprentices.
Copies of the remit have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Ministry of Justice: Annual Report
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Bach): My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Jack Straw) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I have today published, and laid before Parliament, the Ministry of Justice annual report for 2008-09 (Cm 7600).
The report sets out the good progress we have made this year in meeting our mission of creating a just, safe and democratic society. It provides the first full year reporting of progress against our 2007 public service agreement (deliver a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public) and our departmental strategic objectives, and reports against targets set in the 2004 Spending Review that are still current. The report also includes our progress on implementing outstanding Public Accounts Committee recommendations.
Police: Northern Ireland
Statement
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Shaun Woodward) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
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I have received the annual report for 2008-09 of the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland which is being laid before Parliament today as a Command Paper.
Copies of the report are available from the Library of the House.
Race Relations Act 1976
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My honourable friend the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration (Phil Woolas) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I have made an authorisation under Section 19D of the Race Relations Act 1976, as amended, to enable the Secretary of State to request that asylum applicants claiming to be nationals of Palestine or Kuwait submit to language analysis.
Language analysis carried out for some Somali asylum applicants demonstrates that significant proportions of those tested have claimed to be of a nationality, or from a region or grouping, that is not their own in order to try to gain residence in this country. We are aware that a significant proportion of Palestinian and Kuwaiti claims also are from other nationalities. This new authorisation will assist the Secretary of State to make decisions in individual Palestinian and Kuwaiti cases, and to ascertain the extent of abuse within these nationalities.
The Secretary of State may take a refusal to submit to testing into account when determining whether an applicant has assisted in establishing the facts of his case or her case.
The authorisation will remain in place for 11 months (until April 2010), at which point we will review whether it is still necessary and appropriate.
I am placing a copy of the authorisation in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases)
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions & Department for Communities and Local Government (Lord McKenzie of Luton): My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Helen Goodman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
The Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Amendment Regulations 2009 have today been laid before Parliament. The regulations implement, from 13 July 2009, the recommendation set out in the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council’s report—osteoarthritis of the knee in coal miners. The Command Paper Cm 7440 was published in August 2008.
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The recommendation made in the report was to add the disease osteoarthritis of the knee to the schedule of prescribed diseases. These regulations implement that recommendation.
This means that all coal miners who worked underground in coal mines for an aggregate of 10 years or more before 1986 can claim industrial injuries disablement benefit if they suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee. Work from 1986 onwards as a coal face worker at a non-mechanised coal face, and for certain other categories of work, can be included in the 10 years qualifying period.
Terrorism: Control Order Powers
Statement
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Policing, Crime and Security (David Hanson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Section 14(1) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (the 2005 Act) requires the Secretary of State to report to Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of every relevant three-month period on the exercise of control order powers during that period.
The level of information provided will always be subject to slight variations based on operational advice.
Control orders continue to be an essential tool to protect the public from terrorism, particularly where it is not possible to prosecute individuals for terrorism-related activity and, in the case of foreign nationals, where they cannot be removed from the UK.
As stated in previous quarterly statements on control orders, control order obligations are tailored to the individual concerned and are based on the terrorism-related risk that each individual poses. Each control order is kept under regular review to ensure that obligations remain necessary and proportionate. The Home Office continues to hold control order review groups (CORGs) every quarter, with representation from law enforcement and intelligence agencies, to keep the obligations in every control order under regular and formal review and to facilitate a review of appropriate exit strategies. During this reporting period, three CORGs were held in relation to the orders currently in force. In addition, further meetings were held on an ad-hoc basis as specific issues arose.
During the period 11 March 2009 to 10 June 2009, five non-derogating control orders were made and served. Six control orders have been renewed in accordance with Section 2(6) of the 2005 Act. One control order against an individual was revoked prior to being quashed by the court. One further control order has been revoked on direction from the court. Two non-derogating control orders made but not served in the previous quarter have also been revoked and one control order made but not served in a previous quarter has expired.
In total, 20 control orders are currently in force, 10 of which are in respect of British citizens. Six individuals subject to a control order live in the Metropolitan Police Service area; the remaining individuals
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During this reporting period, 108 modifications of control order obligations were made. Twenty-four requests to modify control order obligations were refused. A right of appeal is provided for by Section 10(1) of the 2005 Act against a decision by the Secretary of State to renew a non-derogating control order or to modify an obligation imposed by a non-derogating control order without consent. Six appeals have been lodged with the High Court by controlled persons in relation to the renewal of control orders during this reporting period. Three appeals have been lodged against decisions by the Secretary of State to modify obligations imposed by non-derogating control orders without consent. A right of appeal is also provided for by Section 10(3) of the 2005 Act against decisions by the Secretary of State to refuse a request by a controlled person to revoke their order and/or to modify any obligation under the order. Two appeals have been lodged with the High Court by controlled persons relating to refusal to modify a control order.
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