§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many grant-maintained special schools have admitted pupils who do not have a statement of special educational needs. [29204]
§ Mrs. GillanMost special schools, whether local education authority-maintained or grant-maintained, may admit pupils without statements of special educational need in certain circumstances. The latest available data on the number of pupils and statements relate to January 1995, when there were two grant-maintained special schools. Both had admitted pupils without statements.
§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many grant-maintained special schools have admitted pupils who have statements which do not name that grant-maintained school. [29205]
394WThe Employment Service currently maintains a network of 1,338 Jobclubs throughout the country. This will provide places for around 204,000 unemployed people during 1996/97. This includes a number of specialist Jobclubs for particular groups of people including a number catering for the needs of unemployed executive and professional job seekers.
Decisions about the type and location of Jobclubs are made by my 154 District managers who are responsible for the delivery of the full range of Employment Service programmes within their Districts. Wherever possible they will seek to maintain a network of Jobclubs which will be accessible to the vast majority of our clients and take into account the circumstances of the local labour market. In many locations this may mean that a standard Jobclub is provided which is able to cater for a broad range of clients, including professional and executive job seekers. You may be interested to know that research has shown that 16% of the people who leave all Jobclubs to start work, take up professional and managerial positions.
Information about the number and location of executive Jobclub closures is not collected routinely. However, regional totals of the number and type of Jobclub are collected at the end of each quarter. I have therefore attached a table showing the total number of executive Jobclubs in each region on the quarter ending dates between March 1994 and March 1996.
You will note that the number of executive Jobclubs has fluctuated during the period, reflecting changing labour markets and client needs in different locations. In addition the fluctuation in the numbers will be due to different patterns of contract tendering in each region during the operational years.
You will note that there are currently around 128 executive Jobclubs which represents some 10% of the total network.
Jobclubs remain successful and in 1995/96 helped over 95,000 unemployed people find jobs.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Mrs. GillanThe Department does not collect this information. Admissions to grant-maintained special schools are the responsibility of the governors, subject to admissions arrangements approved by the Secretary of State.