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Class Sizes
16. Mr. Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to visit Redbridge to discuss class sizes in primary and secondary schools. [11741]
Mr. Robin Squire: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to visit Redbridge, although I recently visited South Park infants school in Ilford. Decisions about class sizes are a matter for local education authorities and schools, taking account of local circumstances.
21. Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to reduce primary school class sizes in Berkshire. [11748]
Mr. Squire: Decisions about class sizes are not a matter for central Government to resolve, but one for local education authorities and schools to determine, taking account of local circumstances.
28. Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent representations she has received on the link between class size and educational achievement in the early years. [11755]
Mr. Squire: The Department has received a number of representations about class size and educational achievement in the early years. The Department has also received evidence that the most important factor affecting educational attainment is the quality of teaching.
Nursery Vouchers
18. Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent discussions she has had with local education authority representatives regarding the introduction of the nursery voucher scheme in 1997-98. [11744]
Mr. Robin Squire: There have been a number of representations on all aspects of the nursery voucher scheme.
Temporary Contracts
20. Mr. Ian Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the proportion of people employed on temporary contracts in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) France and (c) Spain in (i) 1979 and (ii) 1996. [11747]
29 Jan 1997 : Column: 257
Mr. Forth: This information is not available for 1979. According to the latest available Eurostat figures, in 1995 less than 7 per cent. of the UK employees were on temporary contracts, compared with over 12 per cent. in France and 35 per cent. in Spain.
Mathematics Tests
22. Mr. Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of children gained level 4 in the national curriculum tests in mathematics in 1996. [11749]
Mrs. Gillan: Fifty-four per cent. of 11-year-olds achieved level 4 or above in the 1996 national curriculum mathematics tests. This represented a 10 percentage point increase from 1995.
Teachers' Pension Scheme
23. Mr. Barry Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what consultations she has had with local education authority and teacher unions concerning the teachers' superannuation scheme; and if she will make a statement. [11750]
Mrs. Gillan: Officials have conducted consultations with representatives of employers, teacher unions and other bodies about the proposals to reform the arrangements for premature and ill health retirement in the teachers' superannuation scheme. I have personally held meetings with the National Employers Organisation for School Teachers; the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers and the National Association of Headteachers. In addition, the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) has held a joint meeting with the Association of Colleges, the Sixth Form Colleges employers forum and the Association of Principals of Colleges.
School Discipline
24. Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent representations she has had regarding measures relating to school discipline in the Education Bill. [11751]
Mr. Forth: Since announcing our intention to introduce the discipline measures in the Education Bill, we have received representations from a wide range of bodies with an interest in promoting good behaviour and effective discipline in schools.
Claimant Statistics
25. Mr. John Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the number of people who leave the claimant count but do not go into employment. [11752]
Mr. Forth: A large majority--around 70 per cent. of those who leave the claimant count--go directly into jobs. Among the remainder, the two largest categories receive Government-funded training or sickness-related benefits, while smaller numbers claim other benefits, go into full-time education, or go abroad.
29 Jan 1997 : Column: 258
Further and Higher Education
26. Mr. Barnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent representations she has received regarding the future funding of further and higher education institutions. [11753]
Mr. Paice: A total of 52 representations have been received between the announcement in the Budget on 26 November 1996 and 27 January 1997.
Mr. Bryan Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of the growth in student participation in further education in the last three years for which figures are available has been delivered through franchised provision. [12636]
Mr. Paice: Eighty-five per cent. of the growth in Further Education Funding Council funded student numbers in further education colleges between college years 1994-95 and 1995-96 was due to collaborative--franchised-- provision. The vast majority of students on collaborative provision are part time, and therefore the contribution of franchising to the growth is likely to have been considerably less in full-time equivalent terms. Figures for other years are not available.
Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the current average staff-student ratio in further education colleges; and what it was in (i) 1992, (ii) 1993, (iii) 1994 and (iv) 1995. [12997]
Mr. Paice: The figures are as follows:
Student-staff ratio: FE sector colleges and HE (FE courses)
1992-93: 14.5:1
1993-94: 15.5:1
1994-95: 15.8:1
Mr. Paice: The recurrent spending per full-time equivalent student in further education colleges in each of the last five years is as follows:
| LEA spending per FTE cash | Government funding per FEFC funded FTE student cash(18) | |
|---|---|---|
| Year | £ | £ |
| 1991-92 | 2,940 | -- |
| 1992-93 | 2,970 | -- |
| 1993-94 | -- | 2,670 |
| 1994-95 | -- | 2,650 |
| 1995-96(17) | -- | 2,600 |
(17) Provisional.
(18) From 1993-94 the FEFC was established to provide for students studying in further education. The Government funding per funded FTE student series is not comparable with the LEA spending per FTE student series.
Inner-city Schools
27. Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what are the Government's principal priorities for improving standards in inner-city schools. [11754]
29 Jan 1997 : Column: 259
Mr. Robin Squire: The whole thrust of Government policy is to raise standards in all schools, be they in inner cities or in any other part of the country. This means, above all, raising levels of pupil achievement, and in particular standards of literacy and numeracy, as measured by the national assessment and testing arrangements. Our aim is for pupils to achieve the highest standards of which they are capable.
We have a wide range of measures in place to help raise these standards. They include the national curriculum and assessment, Office for Standards in Education inspection arrangements, parental information, the improving schools programme and the development of literacy and numeracy centres, to name just a few. It would be wrong to single out three as being more important than any of the others.
Secondary Education Reforms
29. Sir Sydney Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the Government's programme of reforms of secondary education. [11757]
Mr. Robin Squire: We are on track to complete a series of reforms to raise standards and increase diversity for pupils of all ages. These include greater flexibility on selection policy and more freedoms for grant-maintained schools. My right hon. Friend will shortly be announcing the first tranche of specialist sports and arts colleges.
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