Literacy (Hansard, 23 February 2004)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)
My Lords, last October, the department published the Skills for Life survey, which includes a survey of literacy skills. It shows that 5.2 million adults in England—16 per cent—have literacy skills below level 1; that is, lower than grade D to G at GCSE. The Government's Skills for Life strategy has already helped around 500,000 people to improve their literacy, numeracy or language skills and is working to improve the skills of 1.5 million adults by 2007.

§ Baroness Rendell of Babergh
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her reply. Is she aware that, in one area of the United Kingdom, jobseeker's allowance may be withheld from unemployed people who refuse to take courses in literacy and numeracy and that, in another, those who take such courses are to be offered a monetary reward? Does my noble friend agree that it is essential that 14 year-olds taking two days off from school each week to take up apprenticeships should first be literate and numerate?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I agree with my noble friend that it is important for all our 2 14 year-olds to be literate and numerate. It is also important that we continue with a strategy to allow people to gain those skills at any point in life.
My noble friend is also right to say that the Department for Work and Pensions has a scheme that allows for individuals to be given an extra £10, in addition to their training allowance, to take up basic skills training and a £100 incentive payment, if they gain qualifications. There are also 12 pilot schemes examining the impact that the threat of benefit sanctions could have in ensuring that people take up the opportunity to get basic skills.

Lord Renton
My Lords, what proportion of the unfortunately large total of illiterate people are immigrants or the offspring of immigrants?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I cannot give the noble Lord that specific figure. However, in considering the issue of those who are most in need of basic literacy and numeracy skills, we have targeted particular groups of people. Among those are people who do not have English as a first language and those who have other issues relating to their ability to speak English.

§ Baroness Walmsley
My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the key issues is that children leaving primary school should have a sufficiently high level of literacy and numeracy to cope with the secondary curriculum? What percentage of children have that standard at that stage of their education? Given the failure to improve literacy standards at key stage 2 over the past two years, how confident is the Minister that further improvement will be achieved?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, the latest figures are that 73 per cent of 11 year-olds achieved what we call level 4 at key stage 2 in mathematics and 75 per cent in English. That answers the noble Baroness's point about those able to access the secondary curriculum.
3 It is important that we do all that we can to continue to increase those figures. In part, it is about addressing the needs of children who have some form of special educational need and working closely with them. There is a large group of children at level 3, just below level 4. If we focus on them and do additional work with them—there is a great deal in the primary strategy on that—I am sure that we can help to ensure that they get an enriched secondary curriculum by being able to get access to it through literacy and numeracy.

§ Baroness Howe of Idlicote
My Lords, has the Minister any figures for the percentage of looked-after children who are illiterate, given that only 1 per cent, I believe, leave care with any qualifications? Might not that be a sensible area for urgent attention?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, as the noble Baroness rightly says, the educational achievement of looked-after children is an area that there is a great need to improve. In Every Child Matters, we specifically identified the need to ensure that our looked-after children had a good education and good opportunities. The noble Baroness is right: it should be a focal point of our work.

Lord Acton
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that there are 30,000 illiterate prisoners in England and Wales? The Shannon Trust has a successful scheme in which literate prisoners sponsor illiterate prisoners and teach them to read. Will the Government adopt that most imaginative idea and put it into practice throughout the prison system?

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I wholeheartedly agree with my noble friend: it is an important issue. About 50 per cent of offenders have low reading skills; 65 per cent have poor numeracy skills; and 80 per cent have poor writing skills. The Shannon Trust is a good example of peer mentoring, enabling those in prison who have a good education to pass on their skills to those who would benefit from literacy and numeracy. Such peer work is important, and I support it wholeheartedly.

§ Baroness Perry of Southwark
My Lords, does the Minister agree that it is important that schools go beyond the technical skills of reading, which have been rather over-emphasised in the literacy hour in primary schools? Schools should work to instil an enjoyment of reading that will ensure that children go on reading throughout their schooling and continue to do so in their adult life.

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I agree wholeheartedly. It is very important to instil the love of learning and the love of reading in every child. However, without the technical skills, it is not possible.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, I am aware that the subject of education is devolved, but is there any reason why the Minister cannot answer the Question 4 and tell us what the percentage of illiteracy is in Scotland? I do not think the Scottish Parliament would mind, particularly if the figure were better.

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I asked the question myself and the answer is that as it is a devolved matter, it is inappropriate for me to answer it. I am very happy, of course, to ask colleagues if they will provide the figures for the noble Lord, and put a copy in the Library.

§ The Earl of Listowel
My Lords Lords—

§ Lord Blaker
My Lords—

§ The Earl of Listowel
I am sorry, my Lords, but I think it is the turn of this side.

Noble Lords
Cross Bench!

§ The Earl of Listowel
My Lords, can the Minister say what role increasing mainstream school inclusion has on improving literacy rates, particularly literacy rates for children in public care, to which my noble friend referred earlier? Is the Minister aware that 67 per cent of children from Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa received five GCSEs last year and that in 2001 only 7 per cent of children in residential care gained five GCSEs? That is an outstanding performance by Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa. However, it had to start legal proceedings in seven cases against schools in order to achieve that very welcome outcome.

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, I pay tribute to Shaftesbury Homes, although I do not know about the individual cases. It is very important to ensure that looked-after children have continuity of education, high-quality corporate parenting and real opportunity.

§ Baroness Massey of Darwen
My Lords—

§ Lord Blaker
My Lords—

§ The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos)
My Lords, can we take a very quick question from the noble Lord, Lord Blaker?

§ Lord Blaker
My Lords, can the noble Baroness say how many people in this country are innumerate and whether they include the staff of the Department of Health? That department appears to have briefed a government spokesman last week to the effect that there are 900,000 obese people in this country receiving benefits and that the benefits amount to £70 million a week, whereas a subsequent statement said that the true figure is 900 people and that the benefits amount to £70,000 a week.

§ Baroness Ashton of Upholland
My Lords, the number of adults who have numeracy skills below level 1—below the level I described in my Answer—is 15 million.