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Nursery Classes
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in how many cases in each of the last five years she has given notice that the addition of a nursery class to a county school requires her approval. [19260]
Mr. Robin Squire: This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 28 February, Official Report, column 415, if she will indicate, in respect of each of the outstanding nursery proposals from county schools if (a) she has given notice under section 37(3)(a) of the Education Act that the proposal requires her approval or (b) objections have been made under section 36 of the Education Act. [19261]
Mr. Robin Squire:
The following list shows outstanding proposals for new nursery classes in respect of county schools for which (a) the Secretary of State has given notice under section 37(3) of the Education and Act that the proposal requires her approval or (b) statutory objections have been received. The list does not include outstanding proposals that have not been called in or attracted statutory objections--some of these are still within the two-month statutory objection period.
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11 Mar 1997 : Column: 159
Schools
Mr. Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answer of 28 February, Official Report, column 415, in respect of each of the proposals to open new primary and infant schools that she has received but not yet approved, what is the target time for considering such a proposal and how long she has had to consider each proposal. [19262]
Mr. Robin Squire: The target time for reaching a decision on proposals for the establishment of schools is five months from the date of publication of the proposals. The following lists shows outstanding proposals for new primary schools in respect of county, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and grant-maintained schools in order of date of publication. Most of the proposals outstanding for longer than five months are awaiting further information or action from promoters or other interested parties.
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School Inspections
Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will require Ofsted to inform hon. Members of the date of inspections of schools in their constituencies. [19597]
Mr. Robin Squire: This is a matter for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools. I have asked Mr. Chris Woodhead to write to the hon. Member.
Jobseeker's Allowance
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidance has been issued to staff of the Benefits Agency in relation to the application of regulation 9 of the Jobseeker's Act Regulations 1996; and what level of remuneration for employment set by an applicant in applying for jobseeker's allowance would result in their application being refused. [19527]
Mr. Forth: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 11 March 1997:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the guidance that has been issued to staff in the Benefits Agency in relation to the application of Regulation 9 of the Jobseeker's Act Regulations 1996 and on what level of remuneration for employment set by the applicant in applying for Jobseeker's Allowance would result in their application being refused.
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Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many and what percentage of (a) comprehensive and (b) grant-maintained schools currently offer (i) Latin and (ii) ancient Greek as (A) compulsory, (B) a GCSE and (C) an A-level option; and if she will make a statement; [19886]
Mrs. Gillan:
The Department does not collect information as to which schools, or which types of school, offer Latin and ancient Greek. The following table shows the numbers and percentages of (a) local education authority-maintained comprehensive, (b) LEA-maintained selective, (c) grant-maintained comprehensive and (d) grant-maintained selective schools which entered pupils for GCSE and GCE A Level examinations in these subjects in 1994-95, the latest year for which data are available.
I should first explain that Regulation 9 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations is not a matter for the Benefits Agency. The Employment Service is responsible for ensuring that jobseekers satisfy the labour market conditions for receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance. Jobseekers are generally required to be available for any work immediately, and for a minimum of 40 hours a week. For a
"permitted period" of up to 13 weeks they can, however, limit their availability to their usual occupation and at the rate of pay they used to receive. After the permitted period, they can continue to impose restrictions on the type of work they will accept, initially including the rate of pay, providing they can show that they have reasonable prospects of securing employment notwithstanding those restrictions. Regulation 9 provides that no restriction on the level of remuneration is allowed once a jobseeker has been claiming for more than six months.
This means that if a jobseeker insists on specifying a rate of remuneration after the six month period has expired, their claim will be referred to the independent adjudicating authorities for a decision on their entitlement to benefit. The importance of making sure that the jobseeker is insisting on stipulating a rate of remuneration, and not just stating a preference, is included in our guidance to Jobcentres. If the jobseeker is merely stating a preference this would not amount to a restriction unless that was all they were prepared to accept.
I hope this is helpful.
(2) what assessment she has made of the decline in the availability of Latin and ancient Greek tuition in comprehensive and grant-maintained schools; and if she will make a statement. [19887]
11 Mar 1997 : Column: 162
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