HC Deb 20 June 2002 vol 387 cc518-20W
Sandra Gidley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what new data series separated by gender, race, disability and age have been commissioned by her Department since August 1997. [58338]

Mr. Stephen Twigg

[holding answer 22 May 20021: Statistics published by the Department routinely include breakdowns by gender and age, except (in the latter case) where they relate to programmes for children or young people of a specific age (for example national curriculum assessments).

In the early years and child care field, a number of survey series have been introduced since 1997. The topics covered include parents of three and four-year-old children and their use of early years services, parents' demand for child care, and the child care work force. The data collected include gender, age, ethnicity and disability, and analyses are published accordingly where sample sizes allow.

Since 1997 the Department has developed and implemented a "Pupil Level Annual Schools Census" (PLASC) collecting far more detailed data than hitherto from maintained schools. Data were collected for all maintained school pupils for the first time in January 2002, and are being linked with their Key Stage and examination achievements as they occur. These data will allow far more detailed investigation of the impact of gender, ethnicity, special educational needs and other factors on the experiences and achievements of school pupils, and new analyses or series will be published from this source in due course.

Since 1997 the Department has introduced several new statistical series on young people and adults embarking on Government supported training, their qualification achievements and subsequent destinations. These include breakdowns by some or all of gender, ethnicity, disability and literacy/numeracy need.

In 2000 a new series was introduced on the level of highest qualification held by young people and adults of working age, including breakdowns by gender, age and ethnicity. This was a new analysis of data from the long-standing Labour Force Survey.

The Department, in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics and the Department for Work and Pensions, introduced the English Local Labour Force Survey in 2000, a new annual exercise expanding on the Labour Force Survey. First results from the enlarged survey were published in 2001, including a wide range of qualifications and labour market analyses with breakdowns by gender, age, ethnicity and disability.

In addition to new data series, since 1997 the Department has commissioned, conducted itself or contributed to a wide range of one-off or time limited exercises, yielding information including gender, age, ethnicity or disability (or special educational need) dimensions: Effective Provision of Pre-School Education—a longitudinal study of children; the Millennium Cohort, a new longitudinal study led by the Economic and Social Research Council and co-funded by DfES and other Departments, which surveyed 20,000 babies born between July 2000 and June 2001, and will (for example) provide vital information for the evaluation of Sure Start; 17 published research reports, plus two more in preparation, on topics related to special educational needs, including the evaluation of provision for different kinds of special need, the development of good practice in special needs provision, and the achievements of special needs pupils; three published research reports on topics related to ethnicity (teaching and learning strategies in successful multi-ethnic schools; minority ethnic participation and achievements in education, training and the labour market; Black Caribbean young men's experiences of education and employment), plus three more in preparation (on exclusions of minority ethnic pupils, minority ethnic pupils in mainly White schools, and the experiences of minority ethnic students in higher education and their transition into the labour market); evaluation of the Department's "Excellence in Cities" initiatives, and their impact for pupils of different gender, age and ethnicity; evaluation of the impact of Educational Maintenance Allowances on participation and achievement in post-16 education; the "Excellence Challenge" to increase and widen participation in higher education, the evaluation of which will assess the aspirations of minority ethnic and female students, their achievements at ages 14–18 and progression into higher education; the National Survey of Adult Basic Skills Needs (scheduled for completion in 2003), plus a longitudinal study of the impact of basic skills learning (scheduled for completion in 2005); the National Adult Learning Survey—a special survey in 1999 for adults from ethnic minorities, and a boosted sample in 2000 to capture information for adults with disabilities; an on-going study of the impact of gender, ethnicity, age and disability on teachers' career patterns (scheduled for completion in 2003); an on-going survey of the use of and attitudes towards ICT by people from ethnic minorities compared with White people; the "Young people and ICT" survey published in 2002. looking at use of, attitudes to and expenditure on ICT by children and their parents, plus a repeat survey to be published in 2003, which will examine variations by ethnic group in greater depth; a study of the position of women in IT, electronic and communication courses and careers (conducted jointly with the Department of Trade and Industry and Cabinet Office).