HC Deb 13 July 2000 vol 353 cc655-6W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that the level of career guidance available to 13 to 19-year-olds will be maintained by the Connexions service. [130226]

Mr. Wicks

The Government are committed to universal access to careers education and guidance for all young people. Every young person will get help to enable them to make well-informed decisions. We will be drawing up a national statement of what young people can expect from the Connexions Service including access to impartial careers guidance.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that the knowledge and experience of career guidance practitioners will be utilised by the Connexions service. [130225]

Mr. Wicks

The Connexions Service will offer at least the same level of careers information, advice and guidance for 13 to 19-year-olds as is currently provided by the Careers Service. It will be a universal service with a focus on removing any barriers to learning faced by young people.

The new Connexions Service will offer challenging new posts to be filled by people with the appropriate competence and skills, including people from the existing Careers Service, Youth Service and other statutory, community and voluntary organisations.

A major training programme for the personal adviser is being developed and the DfEE recently published a consultation document on the development of the professional framework for personal advisers. The document had been developed through discussion and consultation with representatives from the Youth Services, Careers Services and others and invites views and advice from a range of people including existing practitioners in both professions.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on how the independence and impartiality of career guidance practitioners will be maintained under the provisions of the Learning and Skills Bill [Lords]. [130227]

Mr. Wicks

Impartiality is a fundamental element of the Government's approach to guidance. The Connexions Service will offer at least the same level of impartial careers information, advice and guidance for 13–19 year olds as is currently provided by careers services. Local managers from the Connexions Service will agree with schools how school based personal advisers will be deployed and how the impartiality of guidance will be ensured.

The Learning and Skills Council has a power under the Learning and Skills Bill to secure for adults, the provision of facilities for providing information, advice or guidance about education or training or connected matters (including employment). The arrangements for ensuring the quality and impartiality of that provision will be for the Learning and Skills Council to agree with those organisations delivering it.

However, impartiality is and will continue to be a key principle underpinning publicly funded information, advice and guidance services. The Government have invested £54 million over the period 1999–2002 on the development of local information, advice and guidance services to adults. A key priority for that money is to raise the quality of information, advice and guidance provision through the development of national quality standards, underpinned by the principle of impartiality, against which providers of information, advice or guidance to adults are required to be accredited by March 2002.