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Assisted Places Scheme

25. Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is her most recent assessment of the impact of the assisted places scheme on the feeder schools from which the assisted pupils are drawn. [7075]

Mrs. Gillan: The assisted places scheme gives able children from low-income families the opportunity of an excellent education at good independent schools.

Job Creation

26. Mr. McAvoy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps she is taking to encourage the creation of more full-time jobs. [7076]

Mr. Forth: We shall continue to develop the policies and programmes which have reduced unemployment by nearly 1 million and increased employment by nearly three quarters of a million since 1993 and which have reduced unemployment in Scotland, Wales and every English region to below the average rate in the European Union.

Corporal Punishment

28. Mr. Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on her policy in respect of corporal punishment in the independent school sector. [7079]

Mr. Forth: We do not support any change in the present law which prohibits the use of corporal punishment for publicly funded pupils in independent schools. It is, however, still permissable for parents of privately funded pupils in independent schools on grounds of parental freedom to choose a school with disciplinary

11 Dec 1996 : Column: 240

arrangements of which they approve. But where it is administered, the law requires that such punishment must not be inhuman or degrading.

Teachers (Payment for Extra Work)

29. Mr. Chris Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on her policy with regard to the payment of teachers for out-of-hours and extra-curriculum work.[7080]

Mr. Forth: The statutory conditions of employment for teachers set rates of pay for the whole of a teacher's job. Within that framework, governing bodies can at their discretion pay teachers for a variety of extra-curricular professional activities that might take place out of school hours.

Dyslexia

30. Dr. Goodson-Wickes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what special provision she has made with respect to teaching pupils with dyslexia. [7081]

Mrs. Gillan: The code of practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs emphasises the need for early identification of learning difficulties such as dyslexia, and sets out guidance to local education authorities and schools on the assessment of a dyslexic child. In 1995-96 almost £1 million of expenditure under the grants for education support and training programme supported training for teachers of dyslexic pupils. The Department is supporting research into assessment and teaching strategies for dyslexia with grants of more than £200,000 over the period 1992 to 1998. The Government propose that there should be a particular focus on literacy in the new national curriculum for initial teacher training; the Teacher Training Agency will be consulting on this in the new year, when comments from organisations representing dyslexia will be welcome.

Age Discrimination

31. Mrs. Wise: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps she is taking to reduce discrimination against potential employees on the grounds of age. [7082]

Mrs. Gillan: The Department promotes the Government's campaign for older workers which persuades employers to recruit, train and retain them on merit, disregarding age. Through the campaign, which is supported by complementary booklets, regional presentations to employers and media coverage, we offer help, advice and support to older people seeking work. There is sound evidence that the campaign is working; many employers are reviewing their practices and policies towards older workers.

Education Authority Expenditure

32. Mr. Deva: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many local education authorities increased the amount spent on administration and reduced the amount spent on schools in the last year for which information is available. [7084]

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Mr. Robin Squire: In 1994-95, 14 LEAs increased spending on central administration while reducing spending on schools, by comparison with the previous year.

Primary School Standards

33. Mr. Carrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what new measures she is taking to monitor standards in the primary sector. [7085]

Mr. Robin Squire: The Government's policies now enable the performance of children of primary age to be closely monitored at national, local, school and pupil level. The two main mechanisms are the assessment of performance of pupils against the national curriculum, and the regular independent inspection of all schools. We published last month the national results of the 1996 statutory assessments of all seven and 11-year-olds in English, mathematics and science, and in March we shall publish primary school performance tables. Some 7,000 primary schools have been independently inspected, with a summary of the report sent to each parent. These measures enable parents, schools and others to monitor children's progress at this vital stage in education.

Project Work

34. Ms Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of those participating in project work have gained permanent employment. [7086]

Mr. Forth: It is too early to make a proper assessment of the experience of those who leave project work, as the pilot has been running for only eight months. A full survey of those who leave project work is being carried out, and will include details of the jobs they have entered. Results of the survey will be published in 1997. Early indications, however, are that twice as many people leave project work to enter a job as leave a comparable group outside the pilot areas. There is no significant difference in the rates at which all those who leave project work, and those who leave a comparable group, return to the unemployment register.

School Discipline

35. Lady Olga Maitland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps she is taking with regard to discipline in schools. [7089]

Mr. Forth: The Education Bill introduced on 30 October includes a package of measures to strengthen schools' ability to take action in the face of poor behaviour and discipline; to help ensure there is proper support for schools in dealing with pupils with behaviour problems; and to promote effective provision for such pupils out of school where necessary.

Pupil Achievements (Gender Differences)

36. Mr. Brian David Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to address the gap between the achievements of girls and boys at school. [7090]

Mr. Robin Squire: The Government's policies are intended to raise standards for all pupils, and are doing so. The improvement of girls has been even more rapid 11 Dec 1996 : Column: 242 than for boys at certain ages. While this rapid improvement is very welcome, Her Majesty's chief inspector has drawn attention to the low attainment of some boys, especially at key stages 3 and 4. It is primarily for schools to address gaps in performance of different groups of pupils. In setting its annual performance targets, each school should consider how best to develop the potential of every category of pupil.

School Performance Tables

Mr. Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when she plans to publish value added performance tables. [7078]

Mrs. Gillan: The School Curriculum and Assessment Authority will be reporting on the development of value added measures in February 1997. Consideration will be given to the inclusion of such measures in school performance tables in the light of that report.

Schools Access Initiative

Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 5 November, Official Report, column 426, what financial provision she proposes to make in respect of the schools access initiative. [8053]

Mrs. Gillan: We are today announcing an extension of the schools access initiative. We will provide support totalling £12 million over the next three years for projects to make more mainstream schools accessible to pupils with disabilities. We shall encourage local education authorities and schools to seek local partnership funding to maximise the value of projects to be undertaken under the initiative.

Clinical Academic Salaries

Mr. Merchant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent representations she has received about changes in clinical academic salary levels. [8246]

Mr. Forth: My right hon. Friend has received numerous representations on this matter. She announced at the time of the Budget statement that she has placed a new condition of grant on the Higher Education Funding Council for England from 1997-98 requiring the council to enable universities and colleges to meet any additional costs for medical schools arising from any pay increase awarded by the Government to NHS clinicians.

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