§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of appointees to(a) each Learning and Skills Council and (b) Learning and Skills Councils in total have declared political activity for (i) the Labour party, (ii) the Conservative party, (iii) the Liberal Democrats and (iv) other parties. [157508]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 9 April 2001]: Appointments to the LSC and its local arms have been made through fair and open competition, in accordance with guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner
216W
English region/local LSC area Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Others North East County Durham 1 (7%) — — 1 (7%) Northumberland 1 (9%) — — — Tees Valley 4 (33%) 1 (8%) — — Tyne and Wear 3 (21%) — — — East Midlands Derbyshire 6 (46%) — — — Leicestershire 2 (17%) 1 (8%) — — Lincolnshire and Rutland 1 (7%) — 1 (7%) 1 (7%) Northamptonshire 2 (15%) 1 (8%) — — Nottinghamshire 2 (17%) — — — Yorkshire and Humberside South Yorkshire 4 (31%) — — — North Yorkshire — 2 (15%) — — Humberside 2 (14%) — — — West Yorkshire 3 (25%) — — — West Midlands Birmingham and Solihull 4 (31%) — — — The Black Country 2 (15%) — — — Coventry and Warwickshire 3 (25%) — — — Herefordshire and Worcestershire 2(18%) — — — Shropshire 2(17%) — 1(8%) 1(8%) Staffordshire 4(27%) — — — for Public Appointments (OCPA). We have sought to attract applications from individuals with a wide range of appropriate experience, regardless of any political affiliation they may have.
We wrote to all English MPs last year, asking them to encourage suitable candidates to apply. The great majority of applicants for LSC membership and of those appointed as members declared that they were not politically active within the last five years.
Of the 16 members appointed to the national Learning and Skills Council, five (31 per cent.) declared political activity with the Labour party. There were no declarations in respect of other parties.
141 of the 641 people who have been appointed and remain as members of the local Learning and Skills Councils declared political activity. These figures exclude Executive Directors of local Learning and Skills Councils as they were not required to declare political activity when applying for these posts. A breakdown by political party is set out in the table:
Appointed Percentage of politically active members Conservative 21 14.9 Labour 107 75.9 Liberal Democrat 10 7.1 Other 3 2.1 Total 141 100 As a percentage success rate, based on the number of applications by party, this breaks down as: 24 per cent. for Labour; 21 per cent. for the Conservatives; 13 per cent. for the Liberal-Democrats; and 12 per cent. for other parties.
The table shows the percentage of appointees to each of the 47 local LSCs who have declared political activity, by party: 217W
English region/local LSC area Labour Conservative Liberal Democrat Others North West Cheshire/Warrington 2(13%) — 1(7%) — Cumbria 2(13%) — — — Lancashire 4(27%) — — — Greater Manchester 5(33%) — — —> Greater Merseyside 4(27%) — 1(7%) — South West Devon and Cornwall — — 1(7%) — Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole — — 2(14%) — Gloucestershire 1(8%) — — — Somerset 1(7%) 1(7%) 1(7%) — Wiltshire and Swindon 1(8%) 2(15%) 1(8%) — The West of England 2(14%) — — — East of England Bedfordshire and Luton 2(13%) 1(7%) — — Cambridgeshire 2(13%) — 1(7%) — Essex 3(21%) 2(14%) — — Hertfordshire 1(7%) 1(7%) — — Norfolk 2(14%) 1(7%) — — Suffolk 4(29%) 1(7%) — — South East Berkshire — — — — Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and IOW 1(7%) — — — Kent and Medway 2(13%) 3(20%) — — Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Bucks 2(13%) — — — Surrey 1(7%) 1(7%) — — Sussex 2(13%) — — — London London Central 4(31%) 2(15%) — — London East 4(26%) — — — London North 2(14%) — — — London South 2(18%) 1(9%) — — London West 3(21%) — — — Total 107 21 10 3 (75.9%) (14.9%) (7.1%) (2.1%)