The Committee for Employment and Learning has agreed the following response in relation to the Programme for Government (PfG) issues contained in the Executive's Position Report: 'Developing the Programme for Government and the Budget for 2003/04.' In doing so, members recognised the need for the key strategic issues outlined below to be included in early considerations of the PfG for 2003/04 and therefore sought to agree and submit a response before the summer recess to assist in the preparation of this important process.

Members also look forward to further debate on these issues in the new session, before the PfG for 2003/04 is finalised.

There has already been considerable slippage in the production of the Department for Employment and Learning's 'Essential Skills for Living' strategy to address the problems relating to adult literacy. This has just completed its consultation and the Department's Annual Business Plan for 2002/03 includes several key targets in relation to the strategy against which the Committee will be monitoring progress. Nevertheless, significant progress will take time and the Committee would expect to see this further developed in the PfG for 2003/04. Members have continually emphasised that this is a cross-cutting issue as the Department for Education have a significant role to play in ensuring that the literacy needs of children in compulsory education are successfully met. Schools shape the population which DEL inherits.

The Committee has already called for the urgent completion of the Taskforce's Action Plan, which was due to be completed in March 2002. Members have also already raised in their submissions on both DEL's draft Service Delivery Agreement (SDA) and its draft Annual Business Plan for 2002/03, that there are no targets for progressing the Taskforce's work in the current year i.e. 2002/03. The Committee hopes to see positive progress in this area in the current year, but also recognises that this is a longer-term strategy which needs to be included in the PfG for 2003/04 and beyond.

This has long been one of the Committee's main priorities and members have strongly supported DEL's bids in this area in the Budget 2002 Process. Whilst members acknowledge the Executive's support in the current PfG for the Support Programme for University Research (SPUR), much more needs to be done urgently. It is well-established that Northern Ireland languishes at the bottom of the league within the industrial world in terms of funding devoted to R&D and that university-based R&D in Northern Ireland is all the more vital as it represents a greater proportion of the total R&D activity in the region.

The Committee also wishes to emphasise the cross-cutting nature of university-based R&D. If this continues to decline in real terms, it will have a major negative impact on the Northern Ireland private sector, in terms of fewer spin-off commercial applications or entrepreneurial companies and the public sector eg affecting the activities of the Departments for Agriculture and Rural Development and Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

To this end, DEL's own Research, Development and Innovation policy which was due to be produced in October 2001, needs to be urgently completed in conjunction with the overall strategy for Northern Ireland which DEL's policy was to inform.

Members are extremely concerned at the significant backlogs in capital investment requirements for both maintenance and new build projects in higher and further education and in particular that it is 'not feasible to meet these needs in the short to the medium term.' The Committee is therefore strongly supportive of DEL's bids to address the backlog and would urge that this is a key issue for inclusion on the PfG for 2003/04. This should include targets against which progress can be measured.

As recommended in the Committee's Report on its Inquiry into 'Education and Training for Industry,' DEL has recently begun its strategic review of the further education sector. This is to address issues of critical importance to both the sector and the Northern Ireland economy as a whole. The Committee will expect significant progress in the current year and would recommend that the PfG for 2003/04 includes reference to the completion of the review and the implementation of its findings.

The Committee notes the commitment in the current PfG that the Executive 'will support the recommendations of the review of careers education and guidance.' Whilst DEL committed, in conjunction with the Department for Education, to considering the recommendations emanating from the Review, including the resource implications, by December 2001, this has still not been published. Indeed the Committee was informed that this may not be progressed until the outcome of the consultation on the Review of Post Primary Education has been decided.

Improvements in the area of careers education and guidance are long overdue and hard commitments need to be made regarding implementation in next year's PfG.

Members welcome the Executive's support in the current PfG for the work of the Northern Ireland Business Education Partnership (NIBEP) and the recent expansion of its operations to the further education sector. This support needs to continue in 2003/04 and should be outlined in the PfG.

Again, the Committee would emphasise the need for an effective, joined-up approach in this area. DEL was to have reviewed the 16-19 Curriculum in its programmes by March 2002 and the Committee is currently awaiting a report on progress. DEL's commitments in this area in the current year are as follows:

• By March 2003 to have reviewed the planning, funding and management of Departmental programmes for 16-19 year olds;

• By March 2003, in conjunction with the Department for Education, to consider the implications of the Post Primary Review Report for the Department; and

• By December 2002 to make recommendations on the review of the Curriculum 2000.

The 2003/04 year will obviously be extremely important for implementing the outcomes of these reviews and these should be reflected in the PfG for that year.

The current PfG commits to implementing, on a phased basis, the agreed changes to student support in higher and further education. The Committee understands that there may well be proposals emanating from the current review of this area by the Department for Education and Skills at Westminster. Whilst we await the outcome of this review, the PfG for 2003/04 may need to commit to implementing these proposals in Northern Ireland.

The Committee also recommends that financial support for postgraduates needs to be reviewed within this timescale.