HC Deb 10 April 2002 vol 383 cc119-20W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department(a)has taken and (b)plans to take to address skill shortages within the railway industry. [45423]

Number of half days missed due to authorised absence in maintained primary schools and maintained secondary schools 1997–2001
Thousand
Maintained primary schools
1996–971 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01
London, City of 4.1 1.3 2.6 3.2 3.1
Camden 185.8 192.8 183.8 180.2 188.9
Greenwich 285.2 294.5 287.8 281.1 288.2
Hackney 320.8 291.6 252.6 257.9 277.5
Hammersmith and Fulham 147.8 134.9 147.9 149.1 147.7
Islington 255.7 239.7 220.4 214.2 219.8
Kensington and Chelsea 103.6 96.7 101.2 85.5 109.3
Lambeth 265.5 306.9 268.7 244.1 258.7
Lewisham 283.9 307.7 264.4 276.9 278.4
Southwark 305.9 305.9 270.9 257.6 281.7
Tower Hamlets 356.6 312.8 271.1 303.3 320.4
Wandsworth 275.4 262.8 250.1 263.0 257.3
Westminster, City of 153.2 176.9 149.0 131.8 154.4
Barking and Dagenham 261.2 269.5 261.6 248.8 264.3
Barnet 366.8 364.6 345.2 329.0 366.9
Bexley 308.2 331.2 312.1 285.7 322.9
Brent 260.2 278.7 307.0 308.4 323.4
Bromley 348.2 348.6 336.6 318.5 337.5
Croydon 438.7 451.5 450.5 431.5 479.2
Ealing 416.0 406.1 401.5 389.2 395.1
Enfield 397.4 380.0 356.2 334.8 353.6
Haringey 269.3 279.6 271.0 247.0 280.8
Harrow 318.1 325.7 299.3 287.4 305.1

John Healey

In October 2000 my predecessor the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Lifelong Learning wrote to the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) proposing that we work together to push skills up the agenda of the rail industry. In March 2001 a joint working group published the "Framework for Skills for the Rail Industry" setting out a strategy for skills. In December 2001 the working group published a progress report setting out challenging targets for the uptake of Investors in People, National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (NVQs and SVQs) and Modern Apprenticeships. In February 2002 I announced Government funding of £500,000 for new "Adult Apprenticeships" to be piloted in the rail industry to tackle significant skill shortages. The joint working group will publish a further report on progress in June 2002.

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