COMMITTEE FOR EMPLOYMENT AND LEARNING
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS: THURSDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2002
ROOM 152, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Dr Esmond Birnie MLA (Chairman)
Mr Mervyn Carrick MLA (Deputy Chairman)
Mr Roy Beggs MLA
Mr John Dallat MLA
Mr Roger Hutchinson MLA
Mr John Kelly MLA
Mrs Mary Nelis MLA
In Attendance:
Dr Andrew C Peoples
Mr Colin Jones
Mr Paul Stitt
Apologies:
Mrs Joan Carson MLA
Prof Monica McWilliams MLA
Meeting opened at 2.15pm in open session.
1. Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
2. Approval of Draft Minutes of 31 January 2002
Mr Kelly queried whether the Committee had concluded at last week's
meeting that its current practice regarding meetings between the Chairman, Deputy
Chairman and the Minister were in line with the general practice of other Assembly
Committees, as reflected in the draft minutes. He stated that he regarded it as
normal practice for such meetings to be minuted and not to be formally arranged
on a regular basis. The Chairman stated that, in general, issues discussed at
such meetings were only recorded in an informal note to assist the Chairman in
verbally reporting back to the Committee. It had already been agreed at a previous
Committee meeting that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman would only meet with the
Minister around particular matters, which should be raised in advance by the Chairman
at Committee meetings.
Agreed. Proposed: Mr Dallat. Seconded: Mrs Nelis.
3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
4. Correspondence
Members noted the correspondence from the Minister for Finance and Personnel
stating that the Needs and Effectiveness Evaluation of Training and Vocational
Education had not yet been completed. The Chairman informed members of the commitment
in the Programme for Government that this evaluation was to be completed by the
summer.
Members noted the Minister's letter on the publication by the Office of
the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) of research on Participation
Rates in Further and Higher Education. It was noted that the Department for Employment
and Learning (DEL) had not been made aware of this research until just prior to
the initial proposed publication.
Members considered information from Mr P Gallagher, Director, North West
Institute of Further and Higher Education, detailing the concerns of the further
education sector in general, at the recent funding arrangements for the Employer
Led Modern Apprenticeships in Plumbing and Electrical Training. The Chairman updated
the Committee on his recent meeting with Mr Gallagher to discuss these concerns.
Members noted that some progress had already been made in this area, with the
Training and Employment Agency inviting direct bids from Further Education Colleges
to provide the training. Members agreed that the Chairman should write to the
Minister to fully clarify the current situation and raise the Committee's serious
concerns.
Action: Clerk
Members considered a paper from Assembly Research comparing the findings
from two recent studies of literacy levels in Northern Ireland. It was agreed
that an oral briefing should be requested, once the Committee had received DEL's
draft Adult Literacy Strategy for consideration.
Action: Clerk
Members were advised that a recent report by the Belfast Education and Library
Board on literacy levels in the Belfast area was available in the Committee Office
for members' reference.
Members noted an Assembly Research Paper giving background information on
the Barnett Formula.
Members agreed not to respond to a consultation document from the Employment
Tribunal System Taskforce as it requested technical detail regarding the mechanisms
in the tribunal process, which was not directly applicable to the Committee.
Members noted two further reports on the New Deal programme which had been
commissioned by DEL. It was noted that the qualitative research carried out had
concluded that the Programme worked well for motivated, younger participants but
had only a limited impact on poorly motivated participants, those with 'bad' labour
market histories and facing multiple barriers to employment.
As a result of constituency queries, members suggested that New Deal was
least effective in areas of high unemployment and that the reports generally did
not reflect the problems at the coalface associated with the Programme.
5. Briefing from DEL officials on progress against targets in the Annual
Business Plan 2001/02
Members were briefed by Dr R Davison, Deputy Secretary and Mr J Russell,
Principal Officer, Financial Planning from DEL, on the Department's performance
to date against targets in their Annual Business Plan 2001/02. The following issues
were discussed:
-
the reasons for slippage in the publication of the report on Careers Education
and Guidance and when the Department hoped to implement the recommendations;
-
the action being taken by DEL to address the staff shortages which meant that
it was unable to meet its target for providing 400 extra places on the access
to work programme which provided training and employment support for the disabled;
-
why the key functional areas in the Industrial and Fair Employment Tribunals
had not been reviewed as planned;
-
the reasons for the delay in the Department's Adult Literacy Strategy, which
was to have been prepared by November 2001;
-
whether DEL would achieve its target of helping 15,000 people from Welfare
to Work in 2001/02, given that only 68% of the target had been achieved by January
2002; and
-
why the Department's E-Business Strategy had been delayed since September
2001 and the ramifications which this might have for DEL in meeting the Northern
Ireland Executive's targets for electronic delivery of key services.
Following the briefing, members agreed to forward any further queries for
a written response from the Department.
Action: Clerk
6. Briefing from Department for Employment and Learning officials on
their draft Service Delivery Agreement (SDA)
Dr R Davison and Mr J Russell then briefed members on the background to
DEL's draft Service Delivery Agreement. Members raised the following areas:
-
how research and development in the universities would be enhanced by DEL's
proposed allocation of £5m in 2002/03, when both universities had already indicated
that they needed £7m-£10m per annum merely to achieve parity with the rest of
the United Kingdom, which itself was significantly behind other countries;
-
Incorrect benchmarks contained in the draft SDA for measuring performance
in the areas of student enrolments in vocational courses in Further Education
Colleges and in pass rates for National Vocational Qualifications;
-
the absence of targets in the draft SDA for the maintenance of the estate
in the further education sector and the application of earmarked funding to widen
access and increase participation;
-
the reduction in next year's target for helping people from welfare to work;
-
the absence of targets to reduce absenteeism and staff shortages in JobCentres
and to deal effectively with the backlog of 7,000 applicants to the New Deal Programme;
-
the lack of detail on how the initiatives to improve quality and raise standards
in the further education sector will be progressed in 2002/03;
-
why the policies on the pilot of Labour Market Intermediaries and the Further
Education Curriculum had been selected for evaluation in 2002/03; and
-
the narrow definition of DEL's customers as 'jobseekers and employers' contained
in the draft document.
Following the briefing, members directed the Clerk to draft a response for
consideration at the next meeting.
Action: Clerk
7. Any Other Business
Members considered a draft 'Framework for Developing Northern Ireland's
Participation in the European Union' from OFMDFM. Members requested a briefing
from Assembly Research on those areas of the document which were of particular
relevance to DEL.
Action: Clerk
8. Date, Time and Place of Next Meeting
On Thursday 14 February 2002 at 2.00 pm in Room 152, Parliament Buildings,
to include a briefing from DEL officials on the Accounts of Further Education
Colleges in 2000/01 and the Recovery Plans currently in place. Members requested
that summaries of the Recovery Plans should be included in meeting packs and were
reminded by the Chairman that these were confidential documents.
Action: Clerk
The Chairman adjourned the meeting at 4.00pm.
Dr Esmond Birnie, MLA
Chairman, Committee for Employment and Learning
14 February 2002
