HC Deb 25 May 1994 vol 244 cc198-9W
Mr. William O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the members of the advisory group, including their occupations, established to undertake a review of Government housing policy in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Tim Smith

The membership of the advisory group is as follows:

Ireland received a placement with an employer prior to completing national vocational qualification level 2 examinations;

(2) how many students have left each Government training centre in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years without sitting national vocational qualifications level 2 examinations.

Mr. Tim Smith

Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. S. Crozier. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from J. S. Crozier to Mr. Roy Beggs, dated 24 May 1994: You have asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students, in each of the last two years at each Government Training Centre in Northern Ireland received a placement with an employer prior to completing NVQ Level II examinations. You also asked how many students have left each Government Training Centre in Northern Ireland in each of the last two years without sitting NVQ Level II. The Secretary of State has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency and therefore responsible for the operation of Training Centres to reply. I should first explain that the general objective for trainees in Training Centres is that they should achieve qualifications at NVQ Level III. The normal procedure is that trainees spend a year in a Training Centre followed by a period of work placement and training with an employer of such duration as is necessary to enable the qualification to be secured. Since the Level III qualification is only achieved on the completion of the full programme, until recently trainees in general had no qualification as such on leaving the Training Centre after their first year. In 1992/93 changes were introduced with the objective of enabling all trainees to achieve a Level II qualification on leaving the Centre before being placed with an employer on their way to Level III. However the unavailability of documentation at that time from Awarding Bodies made it necessary in many cases to place trainees in their employment placement and then to ask them to return to Training Centres to complete their NVQ Level II assessments as required. The 1992/93 intake of trainees left Training Centres during 1993/94. Approximately 50% of leavers during 1993–94 were placed with an employer prior to completing all of the requirements of NVQ Level II. In total however including those who returned to Training Centres to complete their qualifications,. 74% achieved the Level II qualification. I regret that I do not have readily available in meaningful form figures showing precisely how many students left each Centre without assessment for NVQ Level II or who received a placement with an employer prior to completing NVQ Level II assessment. However I append a breakdown for each Centre showing the percentage of the 1992–93 intake which achieved a Level H qualification. Figures are not yet available for the 1993–94 intake since the trainees recruited in that year have not yet left their respective Centres. It is expected however that 90% of those who finish their first year in 1994 will have achieved NVQ Level II before being placed with an employer.