§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the percentage of business representation on each of the 47 local Learning and Skills Councils. [142282]
§ Mr. Wicks[holding answer 12 December 2000]: Of the members initially appointed to the 47 local Learning and Skills Councils, 46 per cent. have current or recent business experience. En a number of areas, vacancies have been left to allow for additional appointments over the coming months to strengthen further the representation of business people on local Councils, and the representation of other interests as appropriate. When all of these further appointments have been made, we expect that the overall 46 per cent. figure will remain broadly unchanged, and that business representation will be at least 40 per cent. on each local Learning and Skills Council. The initial and expected percentages for each individual local Learning and Skills Council, together with the number of vacancies left open for business people, are contained in the following table:
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Region/local LSC Current percentage of business people on local LSCs1 Number of business vacancies Expected percentage of business people on local LSCs1 South East Berkshire 46 1 47 Surrey 43 — 40 Kent/Medway 43 — 40 Oxford/Bucks/Milton Keynes 40 — 40 Hampshire/Isle of Wight 43 1 47 Sussex 47 — 47 East of England Bedfordshire 47 — 47 Cambridgeshire 40 — 40 Essex 43 — 40 Hertfordshire 42 1 40 Norfolk 43 — 40 Suffolk 43 1 47 North East Northumberland 55 1 47 Tyne and Wear 50 2 53 County Durham 64 — 60 Tees Valley 36 2 40
Region/local LSC Current percentage of business people on local LSCs1 Number of business vacancies Expected percentage of business people on local LSCs1 East Midlands Derbyshire 46 — 40 Leicestershire 58 1 53 Lincolnshire/Rutland 50 — 47 Northamptonshire 31 2 40 Nottinghamshire 58 — 47 West Midlands Birmingham and Solihull 38 2 47 The Black Country 46 1 47 Shropshire 33 3 47 Staffordshire 47 — 47 Coventry and Warwickshire 42 3 53 Hereford and Worcestershire 36 4 53 North West Lancashire 40 — 40 Greater Manchester 53 — 53 Cheshire/Warrington 43 1 47 Cumbria 50 — 47 Greater Merseyside 47 — 47 Yorkshire and the Humber Humberside 50 — 47 South Yorkshire 38 2 47 West Yorkshire 50 2 53 North Yorkshire 38 1 40 South West Gloucestershire 46 — 40 Wiltshire 38 1 40 Somerset 38 1 40 The West of England 43 — 40 Dorset 50 — 47 Devon and Cornwall 33 3 47 London London North 43 — 40 London East 47 — 47 London West 64 — 60 London Central 69 — 60 London South 45 1 40 Total 46 37 46 1These figures exclude local executive directors, as they are employees of the Learning and Skills Council.