Departmental Work Experience

Mr. Willetts
To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many internships were (a) offered by and (b) taken up within the Department in 2007-08; and how many have been (i) offered and (ii) taken up to date in 2008-09.

Mr. Simon
The Department made a combined bid with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for 30 interns from the Cabinet Office Summer Development and Placement Programmes. The Department bid for four interns and placed three of them in summer 2008. In addition, the Department placed two students on the Windsor Fellowship in summer 2008 which is a leadership programme offering six week internships to talented undergraduate students from ethnic minorities.

The Department has made a similar bid with the DCSF for 15 Summer Development Interns and 15 Summer Placement Interns for summer 2009. The number to be offered places in the Department is yet to be confirmed. We expect the process to be completed by Easter with a view to interns taking up posts in July and August 2009.

The Department has also offered two places to students on the Windsor Fellowship which commences in summer 2009.