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Dept for Education and Employment

Answer

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what estimate he has made of (a) the start-up costs, (b) the running cost in each of the next three years and (c) the annual running cost following full implementation of the learning mentor scheme of the ConneXions service; [119275] (2) which partners he expects to pool resources currently devoted to youth support and guidance in order to fund the ConneXions service, referred to in paragraph 6.4 of the paper, ConneXions; and what estimate he has made of the resources he expects each such partner to make available. [119278] Mr. Wicks: The ConneXions strategy document, "ConneXions: The best start in life for every young person" sets out the key services that will contribute to the ConneXions service. These will include careers services, youth services, Youth Offending Teams, the Educational Welfare Service, Learning Mentors and Care Leaver Personal Advisers. The whole of the current careers service budget, and also the budget for New Start, will be routed through the ConneXions service. Public expenditure on the careers service in England, in 1999-2000, was planned to be £228 million, and on New Start £5.8 million. Other partners will be expected to contribute to the ConneXions service the appropriate parts of their existing support services for young people, but funding will not be formally transferred to the new service. As a first step, local ConneXions partnerships will be mapping current provision and auditing existing resources as well as local needs. This will inform local delivery plans and decisions about the speed of implementation of the service. Once the information is available, we will be clearer on the resources local partners can make available, the level of start up costs, and the build up of running costs. We are also considering what additional resources will be needed and can be made available as part of the Government's Year 2000 Spending Review.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

348 c564-5W;348 c560W; 119275;119278

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Costs Advisory services Finance Vocational guidance Young people Operating costs

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk