HC Deb 13 March 2003 vol 401 cc393-4W
Mr. Streeter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding the Home Office has provided to the Experience Corps. [101867]

Beverley Hughes

The funding for the Experience Corps amounts to a total of £19.9 million over three years to March 2004. To date they have received £11.67 million.

Mr. Streeter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what targets the Government set for the Experience Corps; and what progress has been made towards those targets. [101868]

Beverley Hughes

The Experience Corps have been set the target to recruit 250,000 volunteers, reflecting the diversity of people over 50, by 2004. A further target requires that 90 per cent. of the volunteers have been active members over a three month period and that 40 per cent. of these are active over the period of a year in 2003–04. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) on 11 February 2003,Official Report, column 716W, which gives details of progress. The performance of the Experience Corps is currently being reviewed by the Home Office.

Mr. Streeter

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many volunteers the Experience Corps has recruited since its formation; how many of these are from ethnic minority communities; and on what basis each total is calculated. [101869]

Beverley Hughes

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) on 11 February 2003,Official Report, column 716W, which gives details of volunteers recruited by the Experience Corps. The Experience Corps state that, as at 28 February 2003, over 60 per cent. of their volunteers are from ethnic communities. These figures are drawn from a database maintained by the Experience Corps. The performance of the Experience Corps is currently being reviewed by the Home Office.