§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will include Reading in the list of pilot areas for Ambition:IT. [156525]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 30 March 2001]Ambition:IT will run in five pilot areas to be announced later in the Spring. A short list of areas for the pilot has already been announced: they are London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, South Yorkshire, Liverpool, Tyneside, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Edinburgh and the Forth area. Areas have been selected on the basis of strong employer demand and high local levels of unemployment; both criteria had to be met for an area to be considered. On objective grounds, Reading does not meet both these criteria.