To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has in conjunction with the Learning and Skills Council to introduce standing arrangements to reduce bureaucracy in the further education sector. [115082]

The DfES and the LSC are committed to reducing the burden of bureaucracy for providers across the whole of the learning and skills sector. We will establish an independent gatekeeper group to reduce bureaucracy. The group will assess the bureaucratic impact of new and existing policies and practices on providers in the sector. It will challenge the Department and the LSC to change these, and advise on how this can best be done. The group will begin its work this summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of 16 to 18-year-olds in the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency have gone on to (a) further and (b) higher education in each of the last five years; what percentage these figures represent of the total number of 16 to 18-year-olds in the area; and what the average is in England for such persons. [115536]

Data on the percentage of students participating in post-compulsory education are not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs as reliable estimates cannot be made. Participation rates at sub-national level are available only for 16 and 17-year-olds.Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency is divided between Redcar and Cleveland LEA and Middlesbrough LEA. The percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds participating in full-time further education for these two LEAs and England in each of the last five years, for which data are available, are set out in the following table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on (a) plans for merger and (b) recent closures of further and higher education institutions, with particular reference to proposals that affect Hampshire. [116348]

I am not aware of plans to merge or close any further or higher education institution in Hampshire. There are always a number of potential changes being discussed locally; the majority of which do not result in a formal proposal to the Secretary of State. More further and higher education institutions are entering into strategic alliances to increase collaboration both within each sector and across sectors. However, one school sixth form in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Learning and Skills Council Area has recently decided to close due to falling numbers of students in an area well provided with high quality colleges.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many students were admitted to higher education from each socio-economic group in each academic year since 1997; [110104]

The available information, as given in the table, covers only those who apply to full-time and sandwich undergraduate courses through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS); data on the family background of students applying to part-time courses are not held centrally. In 2002 UCAS moved to recording social class using the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) measure. There is no method of converting between the two measures of social class. As a result, the figures for 2002 entry are given in a separate table. There was an increase in entrants in 1997/98 related partly to changes in the funding arrangements for higher education, with students choosing to enter HE in that year rather than wait until 1998/99. There was a corresponding reduction in 1998/99 before entrants started to increase again in 1999/00.The Government are committed to raising the participation rates for people from less affluent backgrounds, and has introduced the Aimhigher programme, which is targeted at raising attainment and aspirations among young people who traditionally would not consider going to university.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of undergraduates failed to complete a course at a higher education institution, broken down by institution and course title, in each year since 1997. [110136]

The available information on non-completion rates is contained in Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), copies of which are available from the House Library. The figures cover full-time first degree courses only, and show, for each individual HE institution in the UK, the proportion of entrants who failed to complete their course. Copies of the HEFCE publication are available for students starting courses in 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000. The next edition, covering students starting courses in 2000/01, is scheduled for publication in autumn 2003.Nationally, the non-completion rate has remained broadly the same at 17–18 per cent. since 1991–92, a period of considerable expansion of student numbers.Figures published in 2002 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show that the UK has one of the lowest non-completion rates among OECD countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the impact of its higher education proposals on the UK economy. [115591]

The Governments White Paper, The future of higher education, sets out in broad terms the economic case for expanding and improving higher education.Officials in my Department are currently developing a Regulatory Impact Assessment which will consider in more detail the costs and benefits of our higher education proposals on business and the sector.