HC Deb 19 October 1995 vol 264 cc378-80W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what assessment she has made as to whether the recruitment and selection of lecturers through the new employment agency, ELS, is in conformity with the Sex Discrimination Acts; and if she will make a statement; [37806]

(2) what assessment she has made of the checks which the employment agency ELS is making on lecturers it supplies to further education colleges; [37805]

(3) what assessment she has made of whether the lecturers supplied by the employment agency ELS will meet the quality requirements of the FEFC; and if she will make a statement. [37811]

Mr. Paice

My right hon. Friend is not responsible for these matters. It is for ELS itself to ensure that it acts in accordance with the law, and for colleges to ensure that staff working in them are suitable in all respects for the job.

Mr. Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to ensure the inclusion of the number of agency lecturing staff employed as a ratio to lecturers employed directly by the corporation, as part of the charter on service standards published by each further education college; and if she will make a statement. [37787]

Mr. Paice

My right hon. Friend has no plans to require the publication of such information in college charters.

Mr. Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many part-time lecturers are employed directly by further education corporations and how many are provided by the employment agency ELS; and how many of the latter are self-employed. [37810]

Mr. Paice

The most recent date for which information is available is January 1993. In full-time equivalents, there were 14,206 part-time teachers paid at hourly rates, employed in further education institutions which were transferring to the Further Education Funding Council on 1 April 1993. The FEFC has since collected staffing information from EC colleges relating to November 1994, before ELS was set up. This information is not yet available in publishable form.