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Severe Disablement Allowance

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many representations he has received since 1 January 1995 about delays in payment of severe disablement allowance; how many he received in (a) 1993 and (b) 1994; and if he will make a statement. [15450]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Fraud

Dr. Goodson-Wickes: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate he has made of progress on combating fraud. [14371]

Mr. Heald: Last July, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced his five-year security strategy which gives new emphasis to the prevention and deterrence of benefit fraud while continuing to improve investigation and detection methods.

We are pleased to announce that the new initiatives which include extra checks on claims and data matching, together with traditional fraud investigation methods, have so far saved in excess of £800 million this year and we are on target to save over £1 billion by the end of the year.

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

School Building Repairs (West Yorkshire)

16. Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she next intends to visit West Yorkshire to discuss repairs for school buildings. [14692]

Mrs. Gillan: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no immediate plans to visit West Yorkshire.

Grant-maintained Schools

17. Mr. French: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many applications for grant-maintained status are currently being considered. [14693]

Mrs. Gillan: Twenty three proposals are under consideration at the moment.

21 Feb 1996 : Column: 199

Mr. Patrick Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the relative performance of grant-maintained and local authority schools. [16716]

Mr. Robin Squire: The 1995 school performance tables show that nearly half the pupils in grant-maintained schools achieved five or more good GCSE passes, compared with 39 per cent. of pupils in local education authority schools. There was almost no difference in the performance of pupils in selective schools in the two sectors, but 45 per cent. of pupils in GM comprehensive schools achieved five or more good GCSE passes compared with 39 per cent. in LEA schools. Analysis of the GCSE performance tables over three years suggests that GM schools have made more progress than LEA schools in raising standards year on year. In the 1995

21 Feb 1996 : Column: 200

national curriculum assessments for seven, 11 and 14-year-olds, a greater proportion of pupils in GM schools achieved higher levels of attainment at each key stage. Detail are set out in the tables.

Table 1: Percentage of 15-year-old pupils achieving graded GCSE results in 1995

1A: all schools
GCSE passes5+ A*-C5+ A*-G 1+ A-G
LEA schools39.4 per cent.86.6 per cent.93.0 per cent.
GM schools48.8 per cent.91.3 per cent.95.7 per cent.
1B: comprehensive schools only
GCSE passes5+ A*-C5+ A*-G1+ A-G
LEA comprehensives38.7 per cent.86.3 per cent.92.9 per cent.
GM comprehensives44.7 per cent.90.7 per cent.95.5 per cent.

1C: comprehensive schools only, banded by the percentage of pupils taking free school meals

GCSE passesPercentage of pupils taking free school meals5+ A*-C5+A*-G1+ A*-G
LEA comprehensivesLess than 554.994.597.2
5-945.891.395.7
10-1436.786.993.4
15-2030.082.190.5
20 and over21.173.985.8
Total38.786.392.9
GM comprehensivesLess than 559.595.797.8
5-947.993.397.0
10-1438.088.494.6
15-2032.985.391.8
20 and over27.781.591.0
Total44.790.795.5

21 Feb 1996 : Column: 199

21 Feb 1996 : Column: 199

Table 2: Percentage of seven-year-old pupils achieving national curriculum level 2 and above

Key stage 1English Mathematics Science
TA(37)Test(37)TATestTATest
LEA schools8178 Re787984--
--80 Wr--------
--65 Sp--------
--78 Ha--------
GM schools8685 re848488--
--85 Wr--------
--73 sp--------
--85 Ha--------

(37) TA = teacher assessment, Test = national test. For English, KS1 national test results are given separately for Reading (RE), Writing (Wr), Spelling (Sp) and Handwriting (Ha).


21 Feb 1996 : Column: 200

Table 3: Percentage of 11-year-old pupils achieving national
curriculum level 4 and above

Key stage 2EnglishMathematicsScience
TATestTATestTATest
LEA schools574854446470
GM Schools615458507076

Table 4: Percentage of 14-year-olds pupils achieving national curriculum level 5 and above

English Mathematics Science
Key stage 3TATestTATestTATest
LEA schools635360565955
GM schools706368646663

21 Feb 1996 : Column: 199

Table 5: time series comparison of LEA-maintained schools with schools which became grant maintained on or before September 1992

Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A-C GCSEs in 1992Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A-C GCSEs in 1995Percentage point increase 1995 over 1992
LEA maintained schoolsSelective89.493.54.1
Comprehensive33.037.74.6
Secondary modern19.024.55.5
All33.938.54.7
GM schoolsSelective89.394.85.6
Comprehensive39.345.56.3
Secondary modern19.428.18.7
All48.855.06.3

21 Feb 1996 : Column: 201

School Inspections

18. Mr. Batiste: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she last met representatives of the Office of Standards in Education to discuss school inspections. [14694]

Mr. Robin Squire: The Secretary of State met Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools on 8 February to discuss school inspections.

Teacher Morale

19. Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent assessment she has made of the morale of class teachers. [14695]

Mr. Robin Squire: My colleagues and I keep in touch with teachers' morale through frequent visits to schools. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I believe that the great majority of teachers do a good job and take every opportunity to say so.

Schools Capital Spending

20. Mr. Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment she has made of the level of capital spending in schools in the financial year 1996-97. [14696]

Mrs. Gillan: Capital expenditure on schools for 1996-97 cannot be projected at this stage. It will depend on the level of self-financed expenditure by local authorities. Planned central Government support for capital work in maintained schools is nearly £700 million--a 6.7 per cent. increase on 1995-96.

Access to Work Scheme

21. Ms Lynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received from organisations of and for disabled people in relation to the future of the access to work scheme.[14697]

Mr. Paice: The Department has received a number of representations from organisations of and for disabled people about the access to work programme.

Overseas Football Players (Work Permits)

22. Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many work permits have been issued in each of the last three years in respect of overseas soccer players. [14698]

Mrs. Gillan: Information about the number of work permits issued in each of the last three years in respect of overseas soccer players is not available. The number of work permit applications for footballers received was 35 in 1993, 22 in 1994 and 65 in 1995.


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