§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the proposed timetable is for the testing of approaches to establish the Connexions Services in England; and what plans he has to publish the evidence. [127475]
§ Mr. WicksActivity began in pilots in April this year. This will continue for at least 12 months, but with the phased introduction of Connexions from April 2001, it may be necessary to extend the life of some of the pilots, so as to ensure continued testing until the service is in place throughout the country. Decisions on this will be taken when we know the areas that will launch the Connexions Service from April 2001. Where pilots are focusing on themes that we already know need longer testing, we have agreed extended contracts for this purpose (e.g. for Huntercombe Young Offenders Institution).
We have introduced a process of action based research, which will ensure the lessons learned from these pilots are communicated very quickly to the pilots themselves, to policy and planning officials and to the wider community who have an interest in these developments. We have already scheduled the first of a series of pilot conferences for the 4 and 5 July 2000, which will bring people together to learn from early piloting experience. In addition, we are developing other means to ensure wide circulation of information, including development of websites and use of existing publications.