§ Baroness Blatchasked Her Majesty's Government:
In what way the scheme for individual learning accounts was strengthened during the summer. [HL1152]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)During the summer we introduced a number of measures to strengthen individual learning accounts. All learning providers were re-registered, blank application forms were withdrawn, all new provider registrations were suspended, a revised learning provider agreement was introduced that made it harder for providers to act against the ethos of the programme and we made changes to the applications process for the same purpose. Everyone who opened an ILA received a copy ofChoosing Your Learning, explaining the full range of options in using their ILA. However, it became clear that these changes were not sufficient by themselves to prevent the misselling of ILAs. At that point we decided we had no option other than to withdraw the programme.
§ Baroness Blatchasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consultation took place and with whom before the decision to cease awarding individual learning accounts (ILAs). [HL1112]
74WA
§ Baroness Ashton of UphollandThe ILA programme has exceeded all expectations and has expanded beyond its capacity. Recently we became concerned that a number of companies were mis-selling ILAs and that some people were being pressed to sign up for low value, poor quality learning. We decided to act quickly to protect the interests of individual learners and to protect public funds. There was no prior external consultation but we have given a period of notice until 7 December until when existing ILA account holders can book learning using their account.
§ Baroness Blatchasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will set out how many complaints were received about individual learning accounts in each month following the introduction of the scheme. [HL1153]
§ Baroness Ashton of UphollandThe Individual Learning Account (ILA) Centre received five complaints in September 2000. Between 4 September 2000 and 30 September 2001, the ILA Centre received a total of 6,053 complaints. At the end of October, taking account of complaints received direct by the department, the total number of complaints was 8,448 against a backdrop of 2,529,609 individual learning accounts opened. Around a quarter (2,314) of these related to learning providers not following the rules of the programme correctly. It is important to note that the complaints recorded are wide ranging and include issues such as the ending of the £150 opening offer as well as service provision and providers. The October figure relates to those received at the ILA Centre and by the department.
The table attached represents the percentage of complaints received as a proportion of accounts opened, both in month and cumulative.
Month Accounts Opened (cumulative) Complaints received (cumulative) % Complaints (cumulative) %Complaints (in-month) Sept-2000 109,564 5 Oct-2000 214,880 365 0.16 0.35 Nov-2000 292,641 744 0.25 0.49 Dec-2000 347,175 930 0.26 0.34 Jan-2001 446,724 1,066 0.23 0.14 Feb-2001 556,928 1,320 0.23 0.23 Mar-2001 661,558 1,492 0.22 0.16 Apr-2001 781,572 1,748 0.22 0.21 May-2001 988,539 2,019 0.20 0.13 Jun-2001 1,276,275 2,365 0.18 0.12 Jul-2001 1,578,014 3,096 0.19 0.24 Aug-2001 1,941,468 4,304 0.22 0.33 Sep-2001 2,386,238 6,053 0.25 0.39 Oct-2001 2,529,609 8,448 0.33 1.67 The department set up a Compliance Unit on 25 September, and figures provided for October above include complaints received by the unit as well as more general complaints received by the ILA Centre. Also in the October figures are 754 letters and recorded telephone complaints the department received directly since the programme began and not previously included.