§ Valerie DaveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the performance of the Connexions service as a universal advice service for all young people. [123693]
§ Margaret HodgeThere are now 47 Connexions partnerships in operation covering all of England. 31 started during the financial year 2002–03. The last one started in April 2003. Ofsted have reported full inspections of six partnerships so far and initial indications are that Connexions partnerships are making progress at different rates with implementation of services. Performance was assessed as good in four of the partnerships, while the other two were rated as less effective. There is now a substantial programme of work developing performance in these two partnerships to address the concerns expressed by Ofsted.
Among the findings from an independent survey of 16,000 young people who had been in contact with Connexion services were the following:
91 per cent. said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service;90 per cent. agreed that "Connexions has a lot to offer young people";86 per cent. felt that "Connexions helps me see all the options available to me";68 per cent. said Connexions had helped them make life-changing decisions;47 per cent. said that contact with Connexions had made them more confident;irrespective of the topic discussed, respondents were positive about the usefulness of the advice given—for example, 85 per cent. thought the advice on housing either very useful or useful.Connexions provides more than just advice on careers, jobs and training, with 21 per cent. of young people receiving advice on money and benefits, 11 per cent. on stress, 10 per cent. on alcohol and drugs, 7 per cent. on bullying and 7 per cent. on sexual health matters.