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Jobcentres (Advertisements)
30. Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received on the acceptance by jobcentres of advertisements for jobs paying less than £2 an hour. [11758]
Mr. Forth: Information on the representations to the Secretary of State about vacancies accepted by jobcentres with wages of less than £2 an hour is not collected centrally.
The Employment Service, in dealing with vacancies notified by employers to jobcentres, does not have a general policing role on pay since such matters are normally for agreement between employers and workers. However, when employers are offering low wages, people in jobcentres will advise employers about the local prevailing rates of pay for the job and that their vacancy may be difficult to fill.
Since wages councils were abolished, there is now no legal reason why jobcentres could refuse to service an employer's vacancy because of low pay.
31. Mr. Jacques Arnold:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps she is taking to ensure that the increase in the educational component of the standard spending assessment for 1997-98 is passed in its entirety by local education authorities to schools. [11759]
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Mr. Robin Squire:
LEAs will have an extra £633 million. Ministers have consistently urged them to deliver this to classrooms. Authorities that choose to do otherwise will need to justify their decisions to local schools, parents and teachers.
32. Mr. Berry:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have claimed an unemployment-related benefit since April 1992. [11760]
Mr. Forth:
The following table shows the numbers of people who have experienced at least one spell of claimant unemployment in Great Britain in each year since 1992. The numbers rose up to 1993 but have since fallen substantially.
| Year | Claimants (million) |
|---|---|
| 1 January to 31 December 1992 | 5.30 |
| 1 January to 31 December 1993 | 5.35 |
| 1 January to 31 December 1994 | 5.03 |
| 1 January to 31 December 1995 | 4.59 |
| 13 December 1995 to 12 December 1996(19) | 4.21 |
(19) Latest available.
The number of people who have experienced at least one spell of claimant unemployment in Great Britain since April 1992 is 10,167,860. This figure is much less than the total for individual years because people may experience unemployment in more than one year.
Teaching Methods
33. Mr. Pawsey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment by what mechanisms her Department is able to exercise control over the teaching methods employed in local education authority schools. [11761]
Mr. Forth: It is for schools and teachers to choose effective teaching methods. The Government's education reforms are designed to encourage all schools to use the most effective methods to maximise pupil attainment.
Student Grants
34. Mr. Chris Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the average annual maintenance grant paid to university undergraduates in (a) 1978-79 and (b) 1995-96. [11762]
Mr. Forth: The average net maintenance grants after means-testing paid to mandatory award holders by local education authorities in England and Wales in the academic years 1978-79 and 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available, were £840 and £1,520 respectively. These figures include awards to postgraduate certificate of education students. The average maintenance payment given is that received by non-minimum award holders. All mandatory holders in 1978-79 received a minimum grant of £200 irrespective of parental or other income. Since 1990-91, eligible students have also had access to non-means-tested student loans.
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Long-term Unemployment
35. Mr. Ernie Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps she is taking to reduce long-term unemployment. [11763]
Mr. Forth: The success of our economic and labour market policies has helped long-term unemployment to fall by 340,000 since January 1994. The United Kingdom has more people in jobs and fewer out of work than any
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other major European country, and in the last four years has created more jobs than the other major countries of Europe combined. In his November Budget statement, my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a further package of measures-including an expansion of project work to every region-to help people who have been unemployed for two years or more to compete effectively for the jobs becoming available.
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Schools (Financial Improprieties)
Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) maintained schools and (b) grant-maintained schools have been investigated for financial improprieties since 1992 or are being investigated. [12976]
Mr. Robin Squire: Local education authorities are responsible for monitoring financial propriety in schools which they maintain. The Department does not maintain records of investigatons by LEAs. The Funding Agency for Schools has the responsbility for the financial monitoring of grant-maintained schools in England. I have asked the chairman of the funding agency to write to the hon. Member with this information in respect of grant-maintained schools.
Nursery Inspectors (Police Checks)
Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what police checks are made on inspectors employed by contractors undertaking inspections of nursery settings. [13147]
Mr. Robin Squire: This is a matter for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.
GCSE Scores (Lancashire)
Mr. Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the percentage of 16-year-olds passing five or more GCSEs at grade C or higher in Lancashire in each year since 1992. [13268]
Mrs. Gillan: The percentage of 15-year-old 1 pupils in maintained schools passing five or more GCSEs at grade C or higher in Lancashire in each year since 1992 is:
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 36.5 |
| 1993 | 39.4 |
| 1994 | 41.1 |
| 1995 | 41.7 |
| 1996 | 42.6 |
(20) Age at the beginning of the academic year.
Academic Selection (Bromley)
Sir John Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the impact of her approval of a higher level of selection by academic ability in a number of Bromley schools on the availability of places to local children living in the immediate vicinity of such schools; and if she will make a statement. [11896]
Mr. Robin Squire: The statutory proposals published by Hayes grant-maintained school, Bromley, to select up to 25 per cent. of pupils on the basis of ability were approved by the Secretary of State in December 1996. The other non-selective secondary schools in Bromley
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have changed their admission arrangements this year to allow them to admit 15 per cent. of children on the basis of ability from September 1997. The Secretary of State's approval was not required for these changes.
The Funding Agency for Schools has the responsibility for ensuring a sufficient supply of secondary school places in the London borough of Bromley. The agency is involved in constant discussions with Bromley schools and the local education authority in order to ensure that there are enough school places for local children.
Local Education Authorities (Administration Costs)
Sir Nicholas Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement about the powers of local education authorities to retain a percentage of education funding for administration costs before distributing funding to schools. [11953]
Mr. Robin Squire: At present, each local education authority may retain up to 15 per cent. of its potential schools budget centrally, to meet expenditure on administration and other purposes specified in its scheme for the local management of schools. The Government intend to reduce this permitted percentage to 5 per cent. of a redefined PSB. There is, however, no separate limit applicable to administrative as distinct from other central expenditure by LEAs.
Derwent Buildings
Mr. Bill Michie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what new proposals she has to provide additional funding to local education authorities which have Derwent buildings, with particular reference to Sheffield. [11928]
Mrs. Gillan: My right hon. Friend does not propose to base allocations on the specific types of building in an LEA. However, clearly projects at schools with Derwent buildings may meet our published criteria for capital support. Any such bids are considered on their merits against those criteria and in the light of the resources available. Since March 1996, we have allocated capital support totalling £1,833,000 to Sheffield LEA for schools with Derwent buildings.
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