§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2003 to the hon. Member for Bristol, West (Valerie Davey),Official Report, column 141W. on Connexions, what assessment he has made of whether Connexions is offering a universal service to young people who do not fall into the Not Engaged in Education, Employment or Training category. [134109]
§ Margaret HodgeAll partnerships will be inspected by Ofsted on a four-yearly cycle and are required to conduct an annual self-assessment of performance based on the Ofsted inspection framework. One question in the Ofsted inspection framework focuses on the responsiveness of the Partnership to the range and diversity of young people in the area. It addresses whether the partnership has effective strategies to enable all young people to gain access to support and provision responsive to their needs. Government Offices also assess this aspect by monitoring partnerships' self-assessment. Of the 12 inspection reports so far published, eight partnerships have been rated overall as good or very good.
An independent survey of 16,000 young people comprising those with all types of need who had been in contact with Connexion services showed minimal differences in awareness of or ability to access the service. Only 12 per cent. of those requiring least intensive support disagreed with the statement, "It is easy to get hold of people at Connexions when you need to", compared with 11 per cent. of those requiring more intensive support and 13 per cent. of those requiring most intensive support. 87 per cent. of those requiring least intensive support agreed that: "Connexions helps me to see all the options available to me".
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of people aged 13 to 19 in England were(a) being educated in a school or college and (b) not engaged in education, employment or training in the last year for which figures are available. [134111]
§ Mr. MilibandParticipation rates are not produced by the Department for 13 to 15-year-olds. As at January 2002, there were 1,892,259 pupils aged 13 to 15 across all schools in England. The number of 11 to 15-year-olds being educated within local education authority areas otherwise than at school was 15,390. This will include, for example, pupils being educated at home, or non-statemented pupils in hospital.
78WSParticipation rates are available for 16 to 18-year-olds. The proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds in England that were being educated full-time in a school, college or higher education institution at end 2001 (end of calendar year) was 55.5 per cent. A further 8.9 per cent. were in part-time education.
The proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds in England not in education, employment or training at end 2001 was 9 per cent.