Written question asked by Baroness May of Maidenhead (Conservative) on Monday, 23 April 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 April 2001. It was answered by Malcolm Wicks (Labour) on Thursday, 26 April 2001 on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment.

Dept for Education and Employment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, if he will make a statement on the number of people who have, to date, taken up ILA's, indicating the critera used to determine suitability to open an ILA; and what the average amount invested for each individual is. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the number of people who have, to date, taken up ILA's, indicating the criteria used to determine suitability to open an ILA; and what the average amount invested for each individual is. [158846] Mr. Wicks: Latest figures are that over 950,000 people have opened Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) in the UK. This figure will be updated shortly and I will write to the hon. Member with a revised figure when this is available. In England the main criterion for holding an ILA is that the individual is aged 19 or over. The figures available for ILAs in England show that each learning opportunity undertaken by account holders costs an average of £355. £178 of this is supported by funds available through the ILA initiative while the balance of £177 is shared between the individual and other sources of funding such as employers and trade unions.

Secondary information