(2) what steps his Department and the Learning and Skills Councils are taking to ensure equality of access leading to equality of work opportunities for young women:
I have been asked to reply.
Gaining new skills and qualifications, learning and training are—alongside finding work—the most powerful ways individuals can transform their life chances and those of their families.
Working with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), we are committed to ensure our policies act to narrow gaps in attainment and participation where these gaps are detrimental to social justice and economic success. Specific commitments to equality and action to narrow gaps in the learning and skills sector, including equality of access and outcomes for young women, are set out in a number of documents, for example:
The former Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Gender Equality Scheme, the Department for Trade and Industry's (DTI) Equality Scheme and associated action plans, published in April 2007;
The LSC’s Single Equality Scheme also published in April 2007; and
The Skills Strategy Equality Impact Assessment, published in June 2007.