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Private Employment Agencies
Mr. Hall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the private employment agencies used by her Department and its agencies in each of the last three years for which figures are available, indicating (a) the names of the agencies, (b) the numbers employed by the agencies in work for her Department, (c) the total cost to her Department of using employment
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agencies and the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited and (d) the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. [16176]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment her
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Department has made of the presence of (a) hazardous materials and (b) ozone-depleting substances within those buildings her Department occupies; and if she will make a statement. [16314]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The DfEE has, through its facilities management and purchasing organisation, arrangements for assessing the presence of both hazardous and ozone-depleting substances. Assessments are carried out in accordance with current regulations and where appropriate, the Department has taken the necessary action either to eliminate their use or minimise the effects of the substances.
Mr. Allason:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many teachers are currently employed by the Devon education authority and how many there were in 1992. [16538]
Mr. Forth:
The numbers of teachers employed by Devon LEA are shown in the table. Staff in grant-maintained schools are excluded.
| January | Full-time equivalent |
|---|---|
| 1992 | 7,330 |
| 1996 | 7,450 |
Home Teaching
Mr. Peter Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) boys and (b) girls of statutory school age are being taught at home; and how many of these have been excluded from maintained schools for behavioural problems. [16434]
Mr. Forth: This information is not available centrally.
Scottish Grand Committee
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the cost to public funds of the attendance of (a) Ministers and (b) officials of her Department at meetings of the Scottish Grand Committee in Scotland since December 1994; and if she will list the meetings of the Committee which (a) and (b) have attended indicating the cost of attendance and the names of those who attended. [16565]
Mr. Robin Squire: No Ministers from the Department for Education and Employment have attended a meeting of the Scottish Grand Committee.
Skills Shortages
Mr. Olner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement about the effect of skills shortages on small firms. [15060]
Mr. Paice:
In 1994, only 8 per cent. of employers with fewer than 25 employees reported that they had a vacancy which was proving hard to fill. Some 75 per cent. of these employers reported that the vacancies were affecting their
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business. More recent surveys of larger employers suggest that there has not been any substantial rise in recruitment difficulties since 1994. A shortage of skills is only one of a number of factors which can lead to recruitment difficulties.
Mr. Pickthall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the notional amount of money in the teachers' pension fund; and how much notional interest this generates per annum. [16130]
Mrs. Gillan:
The notional balance of the teachers' superannuation account at 31 March 1994 was £26,666 million, and at 31 March 1995 was £28,440 million. The interest of notional investments credited to the account during this period was £2,023 million. More recent figures are not yet available.
Mr. Pickthall:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what account is taken of revenue generated by the teachers' pension fund when calculating the fund's expenditure against yearly revenue.[16131]
Mrs. Gillan:
The teachers' superannuation vote--class IX, vote 2--takes account of expenditure on teachers' pensions and income from employers' and employees' contributions. It does not take account of notional interest generated by the notional investments of the teacher's pension fund. This is recorded in the teachers' superannuation account, which is used by the Government actuary to carry out his quinquennial reviews of the teachers' superannuation scheme.
Mr. Blunkett:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many responses she has received to the consultation paper, "Work and the Family"; when she expects to publish results of the consultation exercise; and when she expects to announce Government proposals. [16207]
Mrs. Gillan:
I have received 343 responses from a total of 305 organisations and individuals. I expect to be able to make a statement on the Government's proposed way forward in the spring.
Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received relating to care arrangements for boys at Bradfield House school, Cullompton, Devon; and what action she has taken in response. [16348]
Mrs. Gillan:
The Department has, over the last year, received representations from a number of sources, including Devon social services department, the police and local residents, over the adequacy of arrangements for the care and behaviour of pupils at Bradfield House school. The issues were taken up with the school, as a result of which an agreement was prepared between the school, Devon social services department and the police, for implementing measures to improve behaviour and care.
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Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Bradfield House school, Cullompton, Devon; [16332]
(3) what measures are being taken to ensure Ofsted and social services reports into Bradfield house school, Cullompton, Devon are made available to those local authorities paying for boys at the school. [16346]
Mrs. Gillan:
These are matters for Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.
Mr. Jamieson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action was taken by her Department in response to the 1994 Ofsted report into Bradfield House school, Cullompton, Devon. [16349]
Mrs. Gillan:
Following the Ofsted inspection in February 1994, the Department wrote to Bradfield House school requesting that attention be given to a number of serious weaknesses which had been identified. HM Inspectors have undertaken a number of follow-up visits to the school since then and discussions are continuing.
Mr. Michael:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many teachers were subject to criminal record checks in the year to 31 March 1996 in England and Wales. [16586]
Mrs. Gillan:
The information requested is not available centrally.
Mr. Michael:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what arrangements she has put in place to check the criminal records of school governors. [16592]
Mrs. Gillan:
School governors are not covered by the present arrangements for criminal record checks because they do not satisfy the criterion of having substantial unsupervised access to children on a regular basis. However, the new arrangements that the Government are proposing in the Police Bill [Lords] will enable criminal record checks to be made on governors and a range of other groups that are not covered at present.
Mr. Mark Robinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what provision he is making for the cost of rail services secured by English passenger transport executives in 1997-98. [16949]
Mr. Watts:
A special grant report has been laid before the House for the payment of metropolitan railways passenger services grant in 1997-98 to English passenger transport authorities. The main purpose of the MRPSG is to provide support, in 1997-98, to those PTAs for the
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local rail services secured by those PTAs' passenger transport executives under the terms of franchise agreements with franchise operators and the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising.
(2) when the Office for Standards in Education next intends to inspect Bradfield House school, Cullompton; and if the report will be made public; [16345]
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