HC Deb 18 March 2004 vol 419 cc461-5W
Charles Hendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) young people of the relevant age group and (b) personal advisers there are in the area of each Connexions partnership; and what the ratio of (a) to (b) is in each case. [161093]

Margaret Hodge

The following table shows(a) the number of young people aged (13 to 19) in each of the Connexions partnership areas, (b) the number of Connexions personal advisers funded through the departmental grant and (c) the ratio of (a) to (b) in each partnership.

Total 13 to 19-year-old population (a) Personal advisers funded through SCYPG grant (b) Ratio of (a) to (b), (c)
Bedfordshire and Luton 48,466 73 661
Berkshire 67,045 78 857
Birmingham and Solihull 108,253 268 405
Black Country 91,499 155 592
Bournemouth Dorset and Poole 53,368 75 711
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 56,957 85 670
Central London 88,898 278 320
Cheshire and Warrington 70,301 106 664
Total 13 to 19-year-old population (a) Personal advisers funded through SCYPG grant (b) Ratio of (a) to (b), (c)
Cornwall and Devon 124,469 234 531
County Durham 40,742 77 526
Coventry and Warwickshire 67,482 120 561
Cumbria 38,851 73 536
Derbyshire 75,527 138 547
East London 161,916 309 525
Essex Southend and Thurrock 125,549 222 566
Gloucestershire 45,363 55 820
Greater Manchester 217,573 394 552
Greater Merseyside 134,711 289 467
Hereford and Worcestershire 56,428 105 538
Hertfordshire 85,726 114 751
Humber 74,614 197 379
Kent 132,424 186 711
Lancashire 121,426 175 693
Leicestershire 75,977 128 592
Lincolnshire and Rutland 55,232 66 834
Milton Keynes Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 105,622 146 726
Norfolk 59,688 93 642
North London 80,696 108 750
Northamptonshire 52,790 87 607
Northumberland 24,876 67 371
Nottinghamshire 83,772 155 540
Shropshire Telford and Wrekin 37,937 47 809
Somerset 41,232 70 589
South Central 143,199 215 665
South London 100,229 135 742
South Yorkshire 104,417 276 379
Staffordshire 87,004 144 603
Suffolk 52,528 68 777
Surrey 80,983 96 847
Sussex 111,238 192 579
Tees Valley 58,404 113 519
Tyne and Wear 91,557 174 525
West London 107,145 154 697
West of England 78,732 111 709
West Yorkshire 179,253 333 583
Wiltshire and Swindon 47,875 63 755
York and North Yorkshire 61,774 80 773

Notes:

  1. 1. Data on personal advisers relates to the number of full time equivalents in post at December 2003—the latest period for which information is available and is taken from NEXUS, the management information system used to monitor the performance of the service.
  2. 2. Personal Adviser numbers exclude those funded by other agencies of which there were 917 in post in the same period and a further 3,252 other delivery staff not defined as PAs whose main role is client/customer contact.

Charles Hendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds have not been in education, training or employment in each of the Connexions partnership areas in each year since 2001. [161095]

Margaret Hodge

The percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds who have not been in education, employment or training in each Connexions partnership area in each year since 2001 is shown in the following table.

A separate exercise estimated that the proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training had fallen by 3 per cent. in England between November 2002 and November 2003.

Percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds estimated by the Connexions Service not to be in education, employment or training
percentage
20011 2002 2003
Bedfordshire and Luton 10.7 6.6
Berkshire 5.8
Birmingham and Solihull 12.1 9.4
Black Country 14.4 13.0 8.2
Bournemouth Dorest and Poole 6.8 5.5
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 9.7 6.0
Central London 14.8 11.5
Cheshire and Warrington 6.8 7.0 6.1
Cornwell and Devon 7.4 7.0 6.1
Co. Durham 17.0 11.6
Coventry and Warwickshire 10.3 9.5 4.8
Cumbria 9.2 7.6 6.6
Derbyshire 10.3 8.4
East London 11.6 11.1
Essex Southend and Thurrock 7.5 7.5
Gloucestershire 4.1 3.9
Greater Manchester 10.0 9.3
Greater Merseyside 12.8 12.1 10.7
Hereford and Worcestershire 6.9 5.4
Hertfordshire 5.1 4.7
Humber 8.4 10.0 9.2
Kent 5.0 6.0
Lancashire 9.6 7.2
Leicestershire 9.2 6.5
Lincolnshire and Rutland 5.0 6.1 4.7
Milton Keynes Oxford and Bucks. 3.6 5.4 4.4
Norfolk 6.6
North London 8.8 9.6 8.7
Northamptonshire 6.3 8.3
Northumberland 7.0
Nottinghamshire 6.8 3.8
Shropshire Telford and the Wrekin 6.4 6.3 6.3
Somerset 4.6 4.5
South Central 4.9 4.8
South London 9.3 7.7 5.5
South Yorkshire 10.9 11.4 9.6
Staffordshire 10.5 6.3
Suffolk 7.8 8.2 7.0
Surrey 2.8 3.7
Sussex 5.8 4.8
Tees Valley 12.7 9.0
Tyne and Wear 16.3 10.7
West London 10.2 6.9
West of England 5.1 7.3 6.5
West Yorkshire 10.2 8.9
Wiltshire and Swindon 5.8 4.4
York and North Yorkshire 5.8 4.7
1 Data relate to all 16 to 19-year-olds. Data for 16 to 18-year-olds are not available.

Charles Hendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds from black and ethnic minorities have not been in education, training or employment in each of the Connexions partnership areas in each year since 2001. [161097]

Margaret Hodge

The following table shows the percentage of 16 to 19-year-olds from black and ethnic minorities at the end of 2003 who were not in employment, education or training.

The percentages are taken from data supplied by Connexions Partnerships. Information on the ethnic origin of young people who have completed compulsory education is only available from April 2003. The data is for 16 to 19-year-olds; data for 16 to 18-year-olds only is not collected.

Connexions partnership Percentage of 16 to 19-year-olds from BME groups not in education, employment or training
Bedfordshire and Luton 6.6
Berkshire 6.9
Birmingham and Solihull 8.4
Black Country 5.7
Bournemouth Dorset and Poole 5.8
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 6.7
Central London 10.9
Cheshire and Warrington 6.5
Cornwall and Devon 6.8
County Durham 10.3
Coventry and Warwickshire 4.5
Cumbria 6.0
Derbyshire 9.1
East London 10.5
Essex Southend and Thurrock 5.2
Gloucestershire 6.3
Greater Manchester 7.4
Greater Merseyside 10.1
Hereford and Worcestershire 5.5
Hertfordshire 4.8
Humber 9.8
Kent 6.3
Lancashire 6.1
Leicestershire 4.1
Lincolnshire and Rutland 6.0
Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 5.4
Norfolk 4.6
North London 7.9
Northamptonshire 9.3
Northumberland 0.0
Nottinghamshire 2.7
Shropshire Telford and Wrekin 6.5
Somerset 3.1
South Central 3.6
South London 4.9
South Yorkshire 12.0
Staffordshire 6.5
Suffolk 6.8
Surrey 2.4
Sussex 3.7
Tees Valley 8.2
Tyne and Wear 9.6
West London 4.9
West of England 10.5
West Yorkshire 9.5
Wiltshire and Swindon 4.2
York and North Yorkshire 0.8

Note: Data for Northumberland and Yorks and North Yorkshire reflects the low numbers of Black and ethnic minorities reported in all categories of activity.

Charles Hendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of Connexions services for young people are contracted out to external providers; and if he will make a statement. [161694]

Margaret Hodge

[holding answer 16 March 2004]: Connexions Partnerships are private companies with obligations to their individual boards. As such we do not collect the information requested centrally. The proportion of sub-contracted services are not separately identified in Partnerships' accounts. All costs are apportioned across three main expenditure headings—staff, premises and administration. Private sector companies have had a leading role from the start of developing Connexions and much use has been made of their experience and expertise.

Charles Hendry

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what factors he takes into account when determining the level of grant allocated to each Connexions partnership. [161916]

Margaret Hodge

The amount of grant allocated to each Connexions Partnership is calculated using a funding formula. The formula allocates 40 per cent. of the budget based on the number of 13 to 19-year-olds in the Partnership area and 60 per cent. based on the additional needs of those young people, as indicated by four proxies. The proxies are the number of young people achieving less than 5 GCSEs at grade A-C, the number of 16 to 17-year-olds not in education and training, the number of 18 to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for at least six months and the number of 18 to 24-year-olds claiming Income Support. The formula also incorporates area cost weightings and allocates a fixed amount to each Partnership to cover common costs.