§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people aged(a) 18 to 21, (b) 21 to 24 and (c) 25 years and over have applied for higher education in each of the last three years; and what percentage of the population in each age group these figures represent. [109978]
§ Mr. WicksThe latest data on applicants via UCAS are shown in the following table. Although applicants fell between 1998 and 1999, the final number of accepted applicants increased by 1.6 per cent. over the same period.
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 22 February 2000]: We have set a target that all New Deal partnerships achieve parity of job outcomes between ethnic minority and white clients by the end of this Parliament. We recognise the additional disadvantages which can be faced by ethnic minority jobseekers and that is why the Employment Service is working so closely with key organisations such as the Commission for Racial Equality, Local Race Equality Councils and community groups in this important area of work.
At the end of November 1999, we know that nearly 20,000 young people from ethnic minorities had gone into work from the New Deal for young people. 13,700 had benefited from training and work experience under the New Deal options. At present, the New Deal appears to be doing less well in helping young people from ethnic minorities in obtaining jobs than young white people, although much of the discrepancy may be in part due to less complete destination data for ethnic minority leavers and from variation in performance between delivery areas. They are, however, leaving the Gateway more quickly and are slightly less likely to return to JSA after finding employment. We also assess the performance of different ethnic minority groups and are aware of the variations in outcomes between the groups. For example, we know that those of Indian, Bangladeshi and Chinese origin are closer to achieving equality of job outcomes with white participants than are Black-African participants.
The table shows jobs as a percentage of New Deal starts for each ethnic grouping.
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Percentage White 48 Black Caribbean 36 Black African 30 Black Other 38 Indian 43 Pakistani 37 Bangladeshi 40 Chinese 36 Other 35 There is a feature article on New Deal and ethnic minority participants in the February edition of Labour Market Trends that sets out in more detail the findings of experience so far.