HC Deb 07 July 2003 vol 408 cc603-5W
Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has issued to programmes financed by the European Social Fund which are seeking funding for 2006 and subsequent years. [122876]

Mr. Pond

[holding answer 3 July 2003]: Current Structural Fund programmes, including those funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), have been agreed until the end of 2006. The European Commission is expected to make proposals on the future of the Structural Funds beyond 2006 in its Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, which it is due to publish at the end of 2003. It is expected that the Commission will then table draft legislation during 2004. The Department will publish guidance on any funding that may become available after 2006, when legislation is agreed by the relevant European Union institutions.

ESF partners have been informed of the reform of the Structural Funds after 2006 through the Government's current consultation exercise, which ended on 4 July 2003, and through the ESF website and newsletter published by the Department.

Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to be informed of a decision from the European Union on the timescale for release of the Performance Reserve of the European Social Fund; how much he expects will be released; and if he will make a statement. [122877]

Mr. Pond

[holding answer 3 July 2003]: The European Commission is required by European Union legislation to allocate by 31 March 2004 the 4 per cent. performance reserve for Structural Fund Objectives 1, 2 and 3. The Department is responsible for managing the England Objective 3 programme, which is funded by the European Social Fund and which has a performance reserve of £105 million. The performance reserve will be released if the programme is judged to be successful on the basis of indicators that will be assessed as part of its mid-term evaluation. The Department will submit the mid-term evaluation report to the Commission at the end of 2003. The Department will agree the timing of the distribution of the performance reserve with the Commission in early 2004.

Mr. David Stewart

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the benefits to the UK of the European Social Fund in terms of(a) GDP, (b) employment, (c) skill development, (d) the employment of women and (e) information and communications technologies over the current programme period; and if he will make a statement. [122878]

Mr. Pond

[holding answer 3 July 2003]: All Structural Fund programmes, including those funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), are currently being evaluated in all European Union countries. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for evaluating the England Objective 3 and Great Britain Equal programmes. It also co-ordinates the evaluation of the Objective 3 Community Support Framework for Great Britain.

These programmes are part of a system of active labour market policies that, together with steady economic growth, has contributed to 1.5 million more people into work since 1997, of which 850,000 are additional women in employment.

The evaluation of England Objective 3 will include the issues of employment, skill development, the employment of women and information and communications technologies (ICT). It will be informed by monitoring data, surveys of former participants and companies, and specially commissioned research projects. The latter will include, for example, research into the programme's effectiveness in promoting equal opportunities and ICT training. The evaluation will not examine the benefits of ESF in terms of GDP. While there have been positive results, it is unlikely that the programme is large enough to have a measurable effect on GDP. The evaluation will, however, examine how the programme adds value to domestic programmes, for example, by looking at how it interacts with the New Deal. There is a separate evaluation of Equal, which is testing new ways of combating discrimination and inequality in the labour market.

The Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government are undertaking similar evaluations of Objective 3 in Scotland and Wales respectively. The Department will bring together the England, Scotland and Wales Objective 3 evaluations, in an evaluation of the overarching Great Britain Community Support Framework.

The Department will send its evaluation reports to the European Commission at the end of 2003 and place copies in the House of Commons Library.