HC Deb 01 February 1999 vol 324 cc491-2W
Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what consultation he has undertaken with and what representations he has received from(a) the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, (b) the teacher trade unions, (c) examination boards, (d) employers' organisations and (e) further and higher education institutions, on the principle of the establishment of digital broadcasting services to support the GCSE curriculum. [68214]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The potential role of digital broadcasting services was raised in consultation on the National Grid for Learning, launched in October 1997. As well as being publicly available, the consultation document ("Connecting the Learning Society") was widely distributed, including to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), teacher organisations, further and higher education institutions and examination boards, and employer organisations. DfEE received almost 1,000 responses to the consultation. The outcomes of consultation were published in 'The Grid—Your Views', and are available on the Internet at http://www.vtc.ngfl.gov.uk/vtc/library/pub.html.

Mrs. May

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment from which budgetary head funds will be made available for the provision of specific digital broadcasting services to support the GCSE curriculum. [68217]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Funds for any educational broadcasting service to support the GCSE curriculum will be paid from programme expenditure within DfEE's expenditure limit.