§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate what proportion of students in each Government office region paid(a) full and (b) partial tuition fees and the proportion of those who were exempt in the 2000–01 academic year; and if he will estimate what percentage in each category there will be in each region in 2001–02. [145255]
329W
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 15 January 2001]: Estimates of the proportion of students paying a full, partial and nil contribution towards tuition fees under the new student finance arrangements are available only at a
Percentage 1998–19991 1999–20002 2000–012 2001–022 Nil student/parent/spouse contribution 45 45 45 50 Partial student/parent/spouse contribution 20 20 20 15 Full student/parent/spouse contribution 35 35 35 35 1 Actual 2 Forecast The proportion of students who are exempt from making any contributions is expected to increase in 2001–02 to around 50 per cent. as a result of changes to the contribution threshold.
Travel Costs (Jobseekers)
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what estimate he has made of the cost of reimbursing the travel costs of those people in rural areas who have had to travel to jobcentres to sign on and claim benefits in the last three years; [145135]
(2) how much was spent in the most recent year for which figures are available on reimbursing those on jobseeker's allowance, travelling to an interview at the jobcentre other than on their normal day of attendance. [145126]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 15 January 2001]: Responsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Ms Roseanna Cunningham, dated January 2001:
330WAs the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the costs of reimbursement of travel expenses for people attending Jobcentres. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.I am afraid that it is not possible to estimate the cost of reimbursing travel expenses for people living in rural areas who have to travel to Jobcentres to sign on and claim benefits. People are usually required to attend the Jobcentre fortnightly as part of maintaining their claim for Jobseeker's Allowance. There are, though, circumstances in which people may make their fortnightly declaration that they are available for and actively seeking work—by post. These circumstances allow people who would have to spend an unreasonable amount of their time travelling to the Jobcentre, and those who have a mental or physical disability which restricts their mobility, to make their fortnightly declarations by post.You also ask how much was spent last year on reimbursing the travel expenses of people who had travelled to an interview at the Jobcentre other than on their normal day of attendance. The total amount paid to people to reimburse travel expenses in the operational year 1999–2000 was just over £447,000. That figure includes travel expenses reimbursed in a variety of circumstances, for example the fares incurred by people taking part in the New Deal programmes who have travelled to see their personal advisers or to attend work trials with employers.I hope this is helpful.national level. For students normally resident in England and Wales, the figures for 1998–99 (the most recent year for which actual data are available) to 2001–02 are given in the table.