§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what are her quantitive targets for the Connexions service. [18622]
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§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Connexions service has published the following targets in its Planning Guidance for 2002–03:
Cross cutting targets
Connexions partnerships will contribute to the following local targets set by Government Departments and agencies:
- to increase the proportion of 16-year-olds obtaining five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C (or equivalent) by four percentage points between 2002 and 2004 (DfES & LEA target);
- 92 per cent. of 16-year-olds to obtain five or more GCSEs at grades A*-G (or equivalent), including English and Maths, by 2004 (DfES & LEA target);
- the number of 19-year-olds achieving a qualification equivalent to NVQ level 2 to increase by three percentage points between 2002 and 2004 (LSC target);
- 80 per cent. of 16–18-year-olds to be in structured learning by 2004 (LSC target);
- to reduce school truancies by a further 10 per cent. between 2002 and 2004 (DIES target);
- to reduce by 50 per cent. the under-18 conception rate by 2010, and to establish a firm downward trend in the conception rates for the under 16s (cross Government target).
Partnership targets
Connexions partnerships will lead in setting and achieving the following local targets in their area:
- A reduction in the percentage of young people leaving education and training to become NEET (not in employment, education or training);
- The percentage of those young people who were looked after at the age of 16, who are engaged in employment, education and training at the age of 19. Levels for this group should be at least 75 per cent. of those for all young people of the same age in the area by 2004;
- The percentage of 16–19-year-old teenage mothers in employment, education and training;
- The proportion of 13–18-year-olds, supervised by Youth Offending Teams who are in employment, education and training by March 2004;
- The proportion of 13–18-year-olds with a drug related problem who are identified and referred to an appropriate specialist service by Connexions;
- A local target, to improve levels of participation among a local priority group. This might be a particular minority ethnic group, travellers, or young people whose whereabouts are not currently known.
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£000 RfR 1 RfR 2 RfR 3 RfR 4 Total change Resources Change -198,384 -1,410,305 0 -384 -1,609,073 New DEL 16,961,222 0 122,345 99,616 — Of which: Voted 6,551,606 0 122,345 99,616 — Non-voted 10,409,616 0 0 0 — Capital Change 267,888 -17,652 0 0 250,236 New DEL 2,876,419 0 1,025 0 — Of which: Voted 1,913,981 0 0 0 — Non-voted 962,438 0 0 0 — A further target, for young people with disabilities, is being considered in conjunction with the Department of Health.