§ Mr. Barry JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what support his Department is offering for out-of-hours school activities. [138063]
§ Jacqui SmithOut of school hours learning activities are high on this Government's education agenda. We believe that all young people can benefit from these additional opportunities to learn and succeed. In addition to the £205 million of lottery money available through the New Opportunities Fund for these activities, my Department has made available, through the Standards Fund, £20 million this financial year and £60 million for 2001–02.
My Department is also running a two-year, £2.5 million programme of partnership projects between schools and a wide range of partner organisations, such as businesses and youth, community and voluntary organisations. The 138 projects in the programme will focus on engendering partnership and on evaluating the benefits for both schools and partners.
In addition, the Department has published a wide range of practical guidance and good practice example for providers of out of school hours learning activities; most recently the "Study Support Toolkit", a suite of good practice and training materials, and "Safe Keeping", a good practice guide for health and safety in out of school hours learning activities.