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Voluntary Aided Schools
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she now expects to publish her Department's analysis of the responses to the consultation paper on self-government for voluntary aided schools. [11483]
Mrs. Gillan:
A summary of responses has been placed in the Library. Copies are available from the Department on request.
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Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the expenditure of her Department, agencies and non-departmental public bodies on all external consultants including management consultants for each of the years (a) 1979-80, (b) 1989-90, (c) 1991-92, (d) 1993-94, (e) 1994-95 and (f) 1995-96 (i) to date and (ii) as estimated for the whole year; what estimate she has made of such expenditure for 1996-97; and if she will estimate the savings accruing to her Department from the use of consultants in each of these years. [11343]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of absenteeism rates in days per annum for staff in her Department for each of the years (a) 1979-80, (b) 1989-90, (c) 1991-92, (d) 1993-94, (e) 1994-95 and (f) 1995-96. [11345]
Mr. Robin Squire:
Information in the form requested is not available.
Mr. Blunkett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 15 January, Official Report, columns 471-72, what estimates have been made of the shortfall of places for four-year-olds in (a) Wandsworth, (b) Westminster, (c) Kensington and Chelsea and (d) Norfolk, taking into account provision in the private, voluntary and maintained sectors, expressed in each case as (i) a number and (ii) a percentage of all four-year-olds in each local education authority. [11479]
Mr. Robin Squire:
Information on the numbers of four-year-olds in nursery education other than maintained and independent schools in individual local education authorities is not held centrally.
Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the total value of the standard spending assessment for the Cheshire county council; how much was passed on to local schools by the county council; what was retained by the county council to cover schools' administration and other services; what average figure per school in Cheshire this total represents; and what was the average cost of employing (a) a primary and (b) a secondary school teacher in Cheshire in 1995-96. [11836]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The following table shows the education standard spending assessment for Cheshire in 1995-96, together with the size of the general schools budget--total local education authority spending on its schools--the aggregated schools budget--the sum delegated to schools--and the balance of the general schools budget not delegated to schools, with each figure also expressed as an average per school. The last three
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figures are taken from the budget statement published by the Cheshire LEA in accordance with section 42 of the Education Reform Act 1988.
| £ million | £ per school | |
|---|---|---|
| Education SSA | 332.027 | 639,744 |
| General schools budget | 340.071 | 655,243 |
| Aggregated schools budget | 261.938 | 504,697 |
| Balance of general schools budget retained by LEA | 78.133 | 150,545 |
The LEA also has to meet the cost of recoupment of annual maintenance grant paid to grant-maintained schools, and I have asked the chairman of the funding agency to write to the hon. Member about the level of recurrent grant paid to Cheshire GM schools in 1995-96.
Information about the cost of employing teachers individual LEAs in 1995-96 is not held centrally.
Sir Donald Thompson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the future of the national curriculum assessment and testing arrangements. [12230]
Mrs. Gillian Shephard:
In January 1995, I asked the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority to conduct a full review of national curriculum assessment and testing arrangements for seven, 11 and 14-year-olds.
SCAA's report on its wide-ranging and thorough review is published today. It draws on teachers' comments, evaluation reports, evidence from Her Majesty's inspectors and studies by teacher associations, local education authorities and other organisations.
I accept in full the recommendations made by SCAA concerning the future of the assessment programme. We announced earlier this month the availability of a new grant in 1996-97 to fund additional assessment training for the primary school teachers who need it most--those at key stage 2.
SCAA's review showed that most teachers want a period of stability. That is what we now intend. We shall introduce changes only if they will bring real improvements and if they will: maintain rigorous and reliable assessment for all seven, 11 and 14-year-olds; be consistent with the complementary roles of tests and teacher assessment; and take into account the work load on teachers.
Some of SCAA's recommendations have already been or are being implemented, to ensure the benefits are available as soon as possible. For example, in the wake of our consultation last summer, SCAA has already set out for schools the 1996 assessment arrangements, but, for the most part, SCAA's review focuses on 1997 and beyond. I intend to carry out extensive consultation on my provisional decisions on these proposals and have today published a consultation document accordingly.
I have also announced today the national results of the 1995 assessments for seven, 11, and 14-year-olds and my decision to give greater access to schools' assessment results in order to raise standards, following our consultation in the autumn.
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Copies of my exchange of correspondence with Sir Ron Dearing about SCASS's review; the Government's consultation document; a letter from Her Majesty's chief
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inspector; and the national curriculum assessment results of seven, 11 and 14-year-olds have been placed in the Library.
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Mr. Callaghan:
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what allocations of national lottery
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funds have been made to date to organisations and projects in the Greater Manchester area. [11056]
Mr. Sproat:
To date, 116 awards totalling £27.8 million have been made to organisations in Greater Manchester. The allocations of awards are shown in the following table:
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