HC Deb 24 March 2004 vol 419 cc892-3W
Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding was made available for adult learning in further education colleges in Greater London in each year since 1997. [163066]

Alan Johnson

The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC decides on allocations at individual college and regional level. Information about these allocations is not collected by the Department. This is a matter for the LSC. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Gentleman with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.

Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training there were in Greater London in each month since the Connexions service was established, broken down by borough. [163067]

Margaret Hodge

The number of 16–18 year olds in the five London Connexions Partnerships known not to be in education, employment or training (NEET) in each month since the Connexions Service was established is shown in the following table. Information at borough level is not available.

Number of 16-18 year olds known by the Connexions Service not to be in education, employment or training (NEET)
Central London East London North London South London West London
2001–02
April - - *N/A 3,877 -
May - - *N/A 3,856
June - - 2,497 3,672 -
July - - 2,514 3,675 -
August - - 2,577 3,724 -
September - - 2,824 4,107 -
October - - 2,955 4,278 -
November - - 3,071 4,338 -
December - - 3,056 4,389 -
January - - 2,896 4,356 -
February - - 2,896 4,371 -
March - - 2,841 4,343 -
2002–03
April - 5,409 2,539 3,117 -
May - 5,441 2,542 2,999 -
June 3,664 5,252 2,542 2,893 -
July 3,576 5,292 2,551 2,752 -
August 3,545 5,069 2,549 2,663 -
September 4,309 6,315 2,787 2,950 3,441
October 4,501 6,650 2,918 2,977 3,559
November 4,625 7,004 3,144 3,079 3,778
December 4,541 6,849 3,060 2,890 3,826
January 4,605 6,598 3,263 2,755 3,822
February 4,581 6,595 3,185 2,616 3,747
March 4,387 6,476 3,100 2,521 3,711
2003–04
April 3,109 4,708 1,654 1,447 3,136
May 2,932 4,620 1,544 1,499 2,947
June 2,156 4,822 1,554 1,453 2,025
July 2,165 5,037 1,630 1,450 2,100
August 1,998 5,077 1,636 1,429 1,857
September 2,575 6,098 2,213 2,012 2,553
October 3,073 6,207 2,311 2,201 2,680
November 3,596 7,213 2,418 2,069 2,964
December 3,350 6,964 2,240 1,965 2,550

Notes

  1. (i) Connexions Partnerships were rolled out over two years commencing April 2001. North London and South London started in April 2001, East London in April 2002, Central London in June 2002 and West London in September 2002. It was expected that the NEET figures would increase during the start up period reflecting the wider remit of the Service to engage with all young people in the relevant age group.
  2. (ii) Data for April 2001 to March 2002 are for 16–19 year olds. Data for 16–18 year olds were not available.
  3. (iii) *Data for April 2001 and May 2001 were unavailable for North London Connexions Partnership due to initial difficulties in establishing coverage of the 16–18 cohorts.
  4. (iv) The number of 16–18 year olds not in education, employment or training increases in September each year as summer school leavers enter the labour market for the first time.
  5. (v) From April 2003 mandatory timescales were introduced for maintaining the currency of a young person's activity and thereby focus attention on the size of the NEET group. The variation between the partnership data from April 2003 indicates both the varying success partnerships have had in applying the follow up rules and the cyclical nature of the NEET group.