§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what new steps her Department took in 2001–02 to consult the users of its services about their wishes and expectations; and if she will publish the findings. [47310]
§ Mr. Ivan Lewis[holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Department continuously commissions tightly focused market research to help develop and evaluate advertising and publicity campaigns. This research will often focus on views of customers about its services.
For example in 2001–02, campaigns where strategic communications research or creative development research have been commissioned include the drive to widen participation in Higher Education; the promotion of the relevance of science to teenagers, as part of Science Year, the child care recruitment campaign; the campaign to help those adults with basic skills gaps; and the promotion of foundation degrees and modern apprenticeships.
It is seldom possible to publish the findings of this type of research as these projects test creative work commissioned from advertising agencies as part of the development of the publicity campaigns and are regarded as commercial-in-confidence. This research is subject to the usual strict rules that spending must represent good value for the taxpayer and must not be used for party political purposes.
The Department also conducts research to help us understand the education, skills and communication needs of our customers. It has sampled and consulted on the views of teachers, parents and other groups affected by the Department's policies on specific issues. For example the project "Causes of truancy by pupils of compulsory school age" gathers the views of pupils, parents, school and LEA staff on the causes of truancy and what measures could be taken to address the issue. One of the aims is to examine the issue of absence that is condoned by parents. "A longitudinal study of factors contributing to variations in teacher effectiveness" will investigate the factors which contribute to the effectiveness of teachers at different stages of their career, working in a range of schools in different contexts, and how this changes over time. Part of this study is to track 300 teachers over three years measuring their effectiveness by pupil outcome measures and other qualitative techniques. Again it would not be possible to give details of every project without disproportionate costs.
The Department is committed in particular to consulting its youngest customers and enthusiastically supports the Government's core principles on involving 74W children and young people. We arranged a consultation day with pupils on 5 November 2001 on the Education White Paper and our consultation on the 14–19 Green Paper which started in February includes a young persons' document and events with young people. Most Connexions Partnerships are successfully involving young people in the design, delivery and evaluation of the service. The views of young people are also gathered through the millennium volunteers national and regional fora. We will build on these examples to promote consultation with children and young people across the Department's activities.
The Department's website has details of its research programme from 1997 on http://www/dfes.gov.uk/research. Information about opinion polls, focus groups and other forms of research commissioned by the Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally.