Reg Empey: In answer to the Member’s first point, I believe that, in these islands, we have an unbeatable record in participation rates in higher education of people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. No one has achieved what we have achieved. One of the reasons for that is that we have set out, as a fundamental policy objective, to achieve something. Indeed, one section of my Department is...
Reg Empey: I agree entirely with the Member. That is my personal view. I also draw Members’ attention to a fact that sometimes gets lost in the debate: in the past five years, my Department significantly increased its funding to universities by 21%. Since fees were introduced, all of the resulting income, a combined total of £80 million a year, has gone directly to the two universities. On top of...
Reg Empey: The general picture is positive, but there are some negatives. The pattern is that university students from socially and economically deprived backgrounds tend to have higher dropout rates than those from other backgrounds. We are raising that issue with the universities. It is my understanding that we provide the universities with specific funding to help them to deal with that problem....
Reg Empey: Yes. The report will be published shortly, whether that is tomorrow or in a few days. There are some logistical issues, but it will be published very shortly. There will be differences between the two reports, but we must remember that university funding is a devolved matter. We must look at the circumstances in Northern Ireland. The Executive will have to prioritise resources, and my...
Reg Empey: With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer questions 5, 10 and 15 together. Growing the economy is the central plank of the Programme for Government, and my Department’s work in supporting local business is critical to the success of our economic strategy. I recognise fully the value of the economy-facing aspects of the work that is being done by my Department, and I wish to protect...
Reg Empey: It is absolutely critical and essential. Another example of our work is a programme called Assured Skills, which we hope to have completed and ready for next week’s economic conference in the United States on which we have been working closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) and Invest NI. Yes — shock, horror — we do work together from time to time. We...
Reg Empey: Officials meet regularly and work those things out together. There is a much closer working relationship in dealing with individual companies. As the Member may be aware, last week, I attended a meeting with a significant potential investor. Both Minister Foster and I were present, as were officials from my Department, Invest NI and DETI. That heralds a new approach, which I know the Member...
Reg Empey: With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will take questions 1, 4 and 9 together. Reducing the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) is a key priority for those caught in the category, for all of us economically and socially in Northern Ireland and for me personally. It is also a key concern for the Northern Ireland Executive. In making substantial headway...
Reg Empey: I am very happy to look at any of the key stakeholders. The voluntary and community sector is involved already in delivering a number of programmes on our behalf. We are very aware of the role that the third sector can play because it operates at a local level, has access to many of the young people and has knowledge of their family and personal circumstances. The Department is always open to...
Reg Empey: Sadly, the Member has touched on a very critical point. As the House is probably aware, in 2008-09, some 82% of young people who left school at year 12 — that is, at the age of 16 — did not achieve at least five GCSE A-C grades including both English and Maths. That represented 7,281 of the 8,879 people who left school in that year. The most recent labour force survey estimates that...
Reg Empey: That is tied up with current economic circumstances. Although the figures that I gave are for last year, the economic downturn will inevitably have some impact on the issue. The downturn has resulted in an increase in youth unemployment and hence, in overall terms, to the number of people not in education, employment or training. However, it is important to bear in mind that the situation is...
Reg Empey: I am happy to look at any such proposals. Indeed, if the Member has particular suggestions, I would appreciate his writing to me with them. There is no doubt that we engage and contract with people and organisations that specialise in trying to reach people in marginalised communities. I am thinking of organisations such as the Prince’s Trust. Money is provided to our further education...
Reg Empey: I made an official visit to New York from 19 September to 24 September 2010 to promote Northern Ireland’s multi-skilled workforce in the United States and to encourage greater educational exchange opportunities between Northern Ireland’s universities and further education colleges and those in the US. My programme of events included meetings with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; the...
Reg Empey: I shall deal with two issues that might answer the Member’s question directly. We had a very positive meeting with Speaker Christine Quinn and the City University of New York. Members may be aware that, last year, I appointed Lidija Smirnov to represent the interests of the Department in the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington DC. Ms Smirnov reports to the bureau but works specifically on...
Reg Empey: I omitted to say that I visited the Titanic exhibition that was held in Grand Central Terminal, at which people from Tourism Ireland were promoting Northern Ireland tourism. Indeed, I was very proud to see Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland represented in that great cathedral of a station. There was live music and a mock-up of the Titanic, and Northern Ireland was being promoted as a...
Reg Empey: My Department currently provides 42% of its overall funding for teaching, research and knowledge transfer. The universities, as autonomous institutions, have a responsibility to use that core funding from the Department to leverage additional resources from a range of public and private funding bodies, such as the UK research councils, Invest Northern Ireland, the European Commission, the...
Reg Empey: In July 2010, I went to Brussels and had a meeting with Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn, who deals with innovation matters. I hope that officials from her office will visit the Department this autumn. More bids are being sought for the seventh framework programme, and the eighth framework programme is being prepared. It is most important that our universities benefit from those. I wrote to both...
Reg Empey: With regard to the latter matter, I wrote to both universities — it was either earlier this year or towards the end of last year, I cannot quite recall — and raised the issue of the salaries of senior officials. I think that it was probably earlier this year. I have had responses from the chairman of the Queen’s senate and the president of the University of Ulster’s council, both of...
Reg Empey: I was not aware of the specific detail of that issue, but I assure the Member that that is not a unique situation. When I was in Malaysia last year, the universities there insisted that students concentrate during the summer months on improving their English, particularly technical English. It is not just casual, conversational English that we are talking about; we are also talking about...
Reg Empey: The Member will be aware that the University of Ulster and I have been engaged for some time with the Letterkenny Institute of Technology. Indeed, I discussed that recently with Mary Coughlan, who is the Minister now responsible for the issue, and her predecessor. I am hopeful that some progress will be made, particularly in the north-west. I understand that Letterkenny is looking at...