---

Home-School Contracts

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many responses were received to the home-school contracts proposals in the White Paper "Excellence in Schools" and the consultation letter dated 8 August; how many (a) teacher organisations and (b) organisations representing the views of parents supported the introduction of home-school contracts; and if he will make a statement. [17763]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 25 November 1997]: Some 650 of the 3,500 respondents to the White Paper commented on our proposals for home-school

2 Dec 1997 : Column: 138

agreements; 73 organisations commented on the details given in the Department's letter of 8 August. Taking the responses as a whole, four out of the six teacher associations supported the proposal that all schools should have written home school agreements. Of the six parent organisations who commented, three were opposed to home-school agreements and three expressed support for the principle but did not feel they should be made a requirement. 148 of the parents who returned the tear-off section in the White Paper summary leaflet indicated their support for home-school agreements.

Cerebral Palsy

Mr. Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what special educational and welfare assistance is available to children suffering from cerebral palsy. [18147]

Ms Estelle Morris: It is the responsibility of local education authorities, schools and other local agencies (including health authorities and social services departments) to determine the support needed for individual children, in accordance with the guidance in the Code of Practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs. The Green Paper on Special Educational Needs, "Excellence for all children", published in October, seeks views on ways in which the present arrangements might be improved for children with all types of special educational needs.

Cycling

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list those local education authorities which have ceased to provide cycling proficiency courses. [18175]

Mr. Byers [holding answer 28 November 1997]: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Low Pay

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list, by regions defined by the boundaries of the regional government offices, the lowest hourly rate paid by his Department to (a) full-time employees, (b), part-time employees, (c) persons employed under personal contract and (d) persons employed by firms undertaking contracted-out services for central government offices, listing the job title in each case. [18116]

Dr. Howells: In London, the lowest rate paid by the Department is £4.91 an hour; £3.59 per hour is the lowest hourly rate paid by the Department in all other regions.

These rates apply to all staff directly employed by the Department. Staff at this level do a variety of jobs including filing, photocopying and processing correspondence.

Rates of pay for people employed by firms undertaking contracted out services are a matter for the companies concerned.

Waiver Clauses

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make it his policy

2 Dec 1997 : Column: 139

that fixed-term contract research staff (a) employed and (b) funded by his Department will not be required to sign waiver clauses in their employment contract. [18629]

Dr. Howells: There are no research staff currently employed on fixed term contracts by my Department. However, for fixed term contracts of one year or more, the standard DfEE terms includes a waiver to exclude claims for unfair dismissal on expiry of the contract. The Department has no plans to remove this waiver.

The terms and conditions of staff employed by organisations funded by the Department are the responsibility of the individual employer.

Class Sizes

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage and how many primary school pupils were in classes of over (i) 30, (ii) 36 and (iii) 40 in January in each local education authority and in total; and what was the actual and percentage change in numbers compared with January 1996 in each local authority and in total. [18807]

Mr. Byers: The available information is shown in the following table.

Numbers and percentages of pupils in classes by size taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools in each local education authority area in England: 1996 and 1997Position in January each year

	1996
	31 or more		36 or more		41 or more
	Pupils	Per cent.(8)	Pupils	Per cent.(8)	Pupils	Per cent.(8)
City of London	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Camden	447	5.2	37	0.4	0	0.0
Greenwich	1,412	8.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Hackney	664	4.9	0	0.0	0	0.0
Hammersmith	1.036	13.2	0	0.0	0	0.0
Islington	982	7.4	0	0.0	0	0.0
Kensington and Chelsea	187	3.8	0	0.0	0	0.0
Lambeth	857	5.5	0	0.0	0	0.0
Lewisham	917	5.2	0	0.0	0	0.0
Southwark	2,051	10.7	72	0.4	0	0.0
Tower Hamlets	859	5.8	37	0.2	0	0.0
Wandsworth	2,383	16.5	404	2.8	62	0.4
Westminster	544	7.9	36	0.5	0	0.0
Barking	1,603	10.6	272	1.8	0	0.0
Barnet	1,848	8.8	200	1.0	48	0.2
Bexley	8,821	42.7	148	0.7	0	0.0
Brent	2,259	12.0	206	1.1	95	0.5
Bromley	11,850	50.6	186	0.8	0	0.0
Croydon	6,341	24.4	258	1.0	0	0.0
Ealing	5,508	24.5	262	1.2	44	0.2
Enfield	8,840	41.0	36	0.2	0	0.0
Haringey	948	5.7	0	0.0	0	0.0
Harrow	3,833	24.3	36	0.2	0	0.0
Havering	5,678	28.7	235	1.2	50	0.3
Hillingdon	4,820	25.8	459	2.5	41	0.2
Hounslow	5,674	34.4	678	4.1	41	0.2
Kingston upon Thames	7,095	70.1	485	4.8	47	0.5
Merton	3,955	30.9	395	3.1	51	0.4
Newham	2,381	9.8	204	0.8	52	0.2
Redbridge	9,060	52.7	542	3.2	0	0.0
Richmond upon Thames	2,309	22.3	0	0.0	0	0.0
Sutton	4,235	32.8	367	2.8	0	0.0
Waltham Forest	3,282	18.4	0	0.0	0	0.0
Birmingham	25,642	26.3	1,601	1.6	157	0.2
Coventry	7,638	28.3	530	2.0	0	0.0
Dudley	6,618	26.9	1,229	5.0	775	3.2
Sandwell	11,812	41.5	1,543	5.4	83	0.3
Solihull	8,403	44.0	915	4.8	0	0.0
Walsall	7,241	31.1	890	3.8	45	0.2
Wolverhampton	6,762	30.9	1,078	4.9	233	1.1
Knowsley	5,254	29.2	655	3.6	52	0.3
Liverpool	12,051	26.0	590	1.3	0	0.0
St. Helens	5,563	37.7	1,203	8.1	83	0.6
Sefton	10,670	42.5	993	4.0	0	0.0
Wirral	6,987	23.7	482	1.6	0	0.0
Bolton	11,719	49.7	2,795	11.8	535	2.3
Bury	6,968	43.4	843	5.3	0	0.0
Manchester	9,687	22.8	1,719	4.0	582	1.4
Oldham	9,434	43.5	994	4.6	178	0.8
Rochdale	8,316	43.0	629	3.3	41	0.2
Salford	6,997	30.6	1,247	5.5	314	1.4
Stockport	8,247	32.8	1,202	4.8	117	0.5
Tameside	11,508	53.0	956	4.4	0	0.0
Trafford	9,389	48.9	1,103	5.7	0	0.0
Wigan	11,087	42.5	2,385	9.2	127	0.5
Barnsley	8,677	42.3	751	3.7	152	0.7
Doncaster	9,609	35.1	1,739	6.4	0	0.0
Rotherham	5,732	24.6	422	1.8	0	0.0
Sheffield	11,181	28.0	1,497	3.7	229	0.6
Bradford	11,449	34.3	1,597	4.8	43	0.1
Calderdale	6,331	34.3	341	1.8	45	0.2
Kirklees	14,395	44.3	1,993	6.1	139	0.4
Leeds	21,455	33.3	3,110	5.1	244	0.4
Wakefield	10,673	37.7	1,602	5.7	52	0.2
Gateshead	2,443	14.4	116	0.7	0	0.0
Newcastle upon Tyne	6,792	33.1	1,055	5.1	49	0.2
North Tyneside	4,897	31.7	575	3.7	50	0.3
South Tyneside	4,067	27.6	736	5.0	99	0.7
Sunderland	4,148	15.1	185	0.7	0	0.0
Isles of Scilly	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Avon	26,647	34.4	1,587	2.0	44	0.1
Bath and NE Somerset(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
City of Bristol(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
North Somerset(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
South Gloucestershire(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Bedfordshire	11,867	30.4	2,598	6.7	482	1.2
Berkshire	18,309	30.5	1,414	2.4	46	0.1
Buckinghamshire	22,753	37.6	3,772	6.2	372	0.6
Cambridgeshire	18,065	31.8	1,026	1.8	0	0.0
Cheshire	32,225	37.3	4,051	4.7	142	0.2
Cleveland	13,869	23.6	2,630	4.5	0	0.0
Hartlepool(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Middlesborough(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Redcar and Cleveland(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Stockton on Tees(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Cornwall	14,936	37.5	1,325	3.3	41	0.1
Cumbria	11,382	28.2	1,332	3.3	111	0.3
Derbyshire	41,217	52.0	10,344	13.0	722	0.9
Devon	28,078	34.8	3,032	3.8	128	0.2
Dorset	19,654	44.5	1,360	3.1	86	0.2
Durham	19,881	38.0	1,987	3.8	167	0.3
East Sussex	20,971	42.4	1,056	2.1	0	0.0
Essex	34,741	27.6	804	0.6	109	0.1
Gloucestershire	14,246	32.1	630	1.4	0	0.0
Hampshire	44,938	34.5	2,532	1.9	47	0.0
Hereford and Worcester	13,225	27.2	1,138	2.3	150	0.3
Hertfordshire	23,396	29.0	729	0.9	0	0.0
Humberside	27,832	35.0	4,410	5.5	229	0.3
East Riding of Yorkshire(10)	(11)--	(11)--	--	--	--	--
City of Kingston Upon Hull	--	--	--	--	--	--
North East Lincolnshire(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
North Lincolnshire(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Isle of Wight	2,243	31.1	115	1.6	0	0.0
Kent	44,212	33.8	1,012	0.8	89	0.1
Lancashire	54,099	44.5	7,918	6.5	41	0.0
Leicestershire	21,784	28.8	2,546	3.4	224	0.3
Lincolnshire	13,962	27.9	1,184	2.4	42	0.1
Norfolk	13,224	22.0	780	1.3	43	0.1
Northamptonshire	11,089	22.4	612	1.2	42	0.1
Northumberland	8,478	43.3	1,445	7.4	0	0.0
North Yorkshire	18,663	32.1	2,120	3.6	140	0.2
York	(11)--	--	--	--	--	--
North Yorkshire(10)	--	--	--	--	--	--
Nottinghamshire	32,931	38.9	4,733	5.6	212	0.3
Oxfordshire	10,608	25.7	1,207	2.9	0	0.0
Shropshire	13,425	38.2	1,308	3.7	102	0.3
Somerset	13,649	37.3	809	2.2	41	0.1
Staffordshire	32,163	35.7	5,891	6.5	539	0.6
Suffolk	7,940	18.2	472	1.1	0	0.0
Surrey	14,197	19.9	360	0.5	45	0.1
Warwickshire	17,566	40.7	1,558	3.6	44	0.1
West Sussex	14,447	26.7	333	0.6	0	0.0
Wiltshire	15,128	30.8	773	1.6	0	0.0
England	1,260,551	31.8	1E+05	3.3	9,435	0.2

2 Dec 1997 : Column: 141

Position in January each year

	1997
	31 or more		36 or more		41 or more
	Pupils	Per cent.(8)	Pupils	Per cent.(8)	Pupils	Per cent.(8)
City of London	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Camden	698	8.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Greenwich	2,126	12.0	111	0.6	0	0.0
Hackney	824	5.7	0	0.0	0	0.0
Hammersmith	1,106	14.5	37	0.5	0	0.0
Islington	702	5.4	0	0.0	0	0.0
Kensington and Chelsea	219	4.2	0	0.0	0	0.0
Lambeth	1,192	7.6	0	0.0	0	0.0
Lewisham	1,207	6.7	36	0.2	0	0.0
Southwark	1,748	8.8	0	0.0	0	0.0
Tower Hamlets	1,047	6.3	40	0.2	0	0.0
Wandsworth	2,299	15.3	503	3.4	49	0.3
Westminster	479	7.1	38	0.6	0	0.0
Barking	2,022	12.8	347	2.2	0	0.0
Barnet	2,456	11.3	232	1.1	0	0.0
Bexley	9,314	44.6	145	0.7	0	0.0
Brent	2,383	12.6	251	1.3	95	0.5
Bromley	13,110	55.3	289	1.2	0	0.0
Croydon	7,042	26.1	556	2.1	0	0.0
Ealing	5,258	22.4	148	0.6	0	0.0
Enfield	9,965	46.0	72	0.3	0	0.0
Haringey	851	4.9	38	0.2	0	0.0
Harrow	3,663	22.4	0	0.0	0	0.0
Havering	5,763	28.9	393	2.0	137	0.7
Hillingdon	5,212	28.1	320	1.7	45	0.2
Hounslow	4,907	29.1	456	2.7	0	0.0
Kingston upon Thames	6,682	66.2	75	0.7	0	0.0
Merton	3,676	28.5	279	2.2	89	0.7
Newham	3,021	12.5	151	0.6	0	0.0
Redbridge	8,074	45.7	361	2.0	0	0.0
Richmond upon Thames	2,671	24.7	36	0.3	0	0.0
Sutton	5,222	40.3	222	1.7	0	0.0
Waltham Forest	2,639	14.8	36	0.2	0	0.0
Birmingham	24,848	25.7	1,389	1.4	206	0.2
Coventry	8,641	31.4	679	2.5	0	0.0
Dudley	6,904	27.1	1,215	4.8	466	1.8
Sandwell	12,606	44.1	1,129	3.9	186	0.7
Solihull	8,478	43.3	954	4.9	0	0.0
Walsall	7,527	31.6	557	2.3	0	0.0
Wolverhampton	8,169	37.9	859	4.0	0	0.0
Knowsley	5,820	32.6	663	3.7	171	1.0
Liverpool	12,581	27.3	1,036	2.3	44	0.1
St. Helens	6,270	40.8	1,420	9.3	43	0.3
Sefton	9,634	38.2	511	2.0	0	0.0
Wirral	6,747	23.1	555	1.9	0	0.0
Bolton	11,422	49.0	2,449	10.5	372	1.6
Bury	7,178	44.3	844	5.2	0	0.0
Manchester	10,615	25.1	1,719	4.1	896	2.1
Oldham	10,645	48.3	1,343	6.1	169	0.8
Rochdale	9,004	45.5	1,176	5.9	42	0.2
Salford	7,043	30.8	829	3.6	232	1.0
Stockport	9,446	37.0	1,324	5.2	0	0.0
Tameside	11,566	53.4	868	4.0	50	0.2
Trafford	9,693	49.8	1,020	5.2	0	0.0
Wigan	11,098	42.3	2,397	9.1	45	0.2
Bamsley	9,082	43.9	1,035	5.0	104	0.5
Doncaster	10,052	35.0	1,505	5.2	0	0.0
Rotherham	8,094	34.2	712	3.0	0	0.0
Sheffield	11,261	27.6	1,762	4.3	47	0.1
Bradford	13,443	39.4	2,101	6.2	224	0.7
Calderdale	6,185	33.2	330	1.8	0	0.0
Kirkless	15,730	47.7	2,942	8.9	137	0.4
Leeds	22,031	35.0	2,529	4.0	0	0.0
Wakefield	12,198	41.2	1,978	6.7	52	0.2
Gateshead	2,112	12.5	185	1.1	0	0.0
Newcastle Upon Tyne	6,904	33.6	925	4.5	146	0.7
North Tyneside	4,779	30.7	655	4.2	101	0.6
South Tyneside	3,996	27.8	725	5.0	52	0.4
Sunderland	5,023	18.4	375	1.4	0	0.0
Isles of Scilly	33	21.2	0	0.0	0	0.0
Avon	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Bath and North East Somerset(10)	3,579	28.5	313	2.5	60	0.5
City of Bristol(10)	9,905	31.8	635	2.0	84	0.3
North Somerset(10)	4,675	33.0	148	1.0	0	0.0
South Gloucestershire(10)	9,563	45.1	694	3.3	0	0.0
Bedfordshire	12,890	33.4	2,461	6.4	382	1.0
Berkshire	18,680	31.6	1,462	2.5	88	0.1
Buckinghamshire	23,085	37.9	3,537	5.8	240	0.4
Cambridgeshire	20,831	36.2	1,643	2.9	0	0.0
Cheshire	33,630	38.7	4,217	4.8	87	0.1
Cleveland	--	--	--	--	--	--
Hartlepool(10)	2,833	29.5	418	4.4	0	0.0
Middlesbrough(10)	3,700	24.1	822	5.4	0	0.0
Redcar and Cleveland(10)	4,576	30.7	720	4.8	0	0.0
Stockton-on-Tees(10)	4,507	24.1	984	5.3	0	0.0
Cornwall	16,082	40.2	1,587	4.0	0	0.0
Cumbria	11,984	29.4	1,133	2.8	180	0.4
Derbyshire	44,864	55.2	12,889	15.9	651	0.8
Devon	31,181	38.1	2,898	3.5	86	0.1
Dorset	22,462	50.2	1,089	2.4	0	0.0
Durham	21,429	40.7	2,212	4.2	127	0.2
East Sussex	23,330	45.7	756	1.5	0	0.0
Essex	38,831	29.9	1,566	1.2	214	0.2
Gloucestershire	15,280	33.9	896	2.0	45	0.1
Hampshire	47,671	35.8	2,527	1.9	44	0.0
Hereford and Worcester	12,527	24.9	981	1.9	139	0.3
Hertfordshire	27,264	32.6	1,204	1.4	0	0.0
Humberside	--	--	--	--	--	--
East Riding of Yorkshire(10)	10,254	40.1	2,288	9.0	133	0.5
City of Kingston upon Hull	10,164	39.5	1,829	7.1	0	0.0
North East Lincolnshire(10)	6,228	39.6	732	4.6	99	0.6
North Lincolnshire(10)	4,932	36.2	821	6.0	104	0.8
Isle of Wight	1,639	22.5	220	3.0	0	0.0
Kent	47,339	35.7	757	0.6	106	0.1
Lancashire	58,388	47.3	10,409	8.4	99	0.1
Leicestershire	22,862	29.8	3,254	4.2	408	0.5
Lincolnshire	14,644	28.6	1,667	3.3	0	0.0
Norfolk	13,402	21.6	256	0.4	0	0.0
Northamptonshire	13,015	25.7	855	1.7	41	0.1
Northumberland	8,314	42.7	1,747	9.0	0	0.0
North Yorkshire	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
York(10)	4,961	35.5	412	2.9	0	0.0
North Yorkshire(10)	15,129	33.7	1,470	3.3	133	0.3
Nottinghamshire	38,340	44.5	7,160	8.3	583	0.7
Oxfordshire	13,090	31.3	1,158	2.8	0	0.0
Shropshire	13,545	37.8	1,804	5.0	0	0.0
Somerset	14,096	37.8	1,653	4.4	0	0.0
Staffordshire	31,492	34.8	5,481	6.1	437	0.5
Suffolk	8,520	19.3	257	0.6	0	0.0
Surrey	15,007	20.5	893	1.2	0	0.0
Warwickshire	17,493	42.9	1,738	4.3	43	0.1
West Sussex	15,337	27.4	403	0.7	0	0.0
Wiltshire	16,245	32.5	988	2.0	0	0.0
England	1,344,231	33.4	1E+05	3.6	8,813	0.2

2 Dec 1997 : Column: 143

Numbers and percentages of pupils in classes by size taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools in each local education authority area in England: 1996 and 1997Position in January each year

	Change
	31 or more		36 or more		41 or more
	Pupils	Per cent.(9)	Pupils	Per cent.(9)	Pupils	Per cent.(9)
City of London	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Camden	251	2.8	-37	-0.4	0	0.0
Greenwich	714	4.0	111	0.6	0	0.0
Hackney	160	0.8	0	0.0	0	0.0
Hammersmith	70	1.3	37	0.5	0	0.0
Islington	-280	-2.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Kensington and Chelsea	32	0.5	0	0.0	0	0.0
Lambeth	335	2.1	0	0.0	0	0.0
Lewisham	290	1.5	36	0.2	0	0.0
Southwark	-303	-1.8	-72	-0.4	0	0.0
Tower Hamlets	188	0.6	3	0.0	0	0.0
Wandsworth	-74	-1.1	99	0.5	-13	-0.1
Westminster	-65	-0.9	2	0.0	0	0.0
Barking	419	2.2	75	0.4	0	0.0
Barnet	608	2.5	32	0.1	-48	-0.2
Bexley	493	1.9	-3	0.0	0	0.0
Brent	124	0.6	45	0.2	0	0.0
Bromley	1,260	4.6	103	0.4	0	0.0
Croydon	701	1.7	298	1.1	0	0.0
Ealing	-250	-2.1	-114	-0.5	-44	-0.2
Enfield	1,125	5.0	36	0.2	0	0.0
Haringey	-97	-0.7	38	0.2	0	0.0
Harrow	-170	-2.0	-36	-0.2	0	0.0
Havering	85	0.2	158	0.8	87	0.4
Hillingdon	392	2.3	-139	-0.7	4	0.0
Hounslow	-767	-5.3	-222	-1.4	-41	-0.2
Kingston Upon Thames	-413	-3.9	-410	-4.0	-4.7	-0.5
Merton	-279	-2.3	-116	-0.9	38	0.3
Newham	640	2.7	-53	-0.2	-5.2	-0.2
Redbridge	-986	-7.0	-181	-1.1	0	0.0
Richmond Upon Thames	362	2.5	36	0.3	0	0.0
Sutton	987	7.6	-145	-1.1	0	0.0
Waltham Forest	-643	-3.6	36	0.2	0	0.0
Birmingham	-794	-0.6	-212	-0.2	49	0.1
Coventry	1,003	3.0	149	0.5	0	0.0
Dudley	286	0.1	-14	-0.2	-309	-1.3
Sandwell	794	2.6	-414	-1.5	103	0.4
Solihull	75	-0.7	39	0.1	0	0.0
Walsall	286	0.4	-333	-1.5	-4.5	-0.2
Wolverhampton	1,407	7.0	-219	-0.9	-233	-1.1
Knowsley	566	3.3	8	0.1	119	0.7
Liverpool	530	1.3	446	1.0	44	0.1
St. Helens	707	3.2	217	1.1	-4.0	-0.3
Sefton	-1,036	-4.3	-482	-1.9	0	0.0
Wirral	-240	-0.6	73	0.3	0	0.0
Bolton	-297	-0.7	-346	-1.4	-163	-0.7
Bury	210	0.9	1	0.0	0	0.0
Manchester	928	2.3	0	0.0	314	0.8
Oldham	1,211	4.8	349	1.5	-9	-0.1
Rochdale	688	2.5	547	2.7	1	0.0
Salford	46	0.1	-418	-1.8	-82	-0.4
Stockport	1,199	4.3	122	0.4	-117	-0.5
Tameside	58	0.4	-88	-0.4	50	0.2
Trafford	304	0.9	-8.3	-0.5	0	0.0
Wigan	11	-0.2	12	0.0	-8.2	-0.3
Barnsley	405	1.6	284	1.3	-4.8	-0.2
Doncaster	443	-0.1	-234	-1.1	0	0.0
Rotherham	2,362	9.7	290	1.2	0	0.0
Sheffield	80	-0.4	265	0.6	-182	-0.5
Bradford	1,994	5.1	504	1.4	181	0.5
Calderdale	-146	-1.1	-11	-0.1	-45	-0.2
Kirklees	1,335	3.3	949	2.8	-2	0.0
Leeds	576	-0.3	-581	-1.1	-244	-0.4
Wakefield	1,525	3.5	376	1.0	0	0.0
Gateshead	-331	-1.8	69	0.4	0	0.0
Newcastle Upon Tyne	112	0.4	-130	-0.7	97	0.5
North Tyneside	-18	-1.0	80	0.5	51	0.3
South Tyneside	-7.1	0.1	-11	0.0	-4.7	-0.3
Sunderland	875	3.3	190	0.7	0	0.0
Isle of Scilly	33	21.2	0	0.0	0	0.0
Avon	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Bath and North East Somerset(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
City of Bristol(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
North Somerset(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
South Gloucestershire(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Bedfordshire	1,023	3.0	-137	-0.3	-100	-0.2
Berkshire	371	1.0	48	0.1	42	0.1
Buckinghamshire	332	0.3	-235	-0.4	-132	-0.2
Cambridgeshire	2,766	4.4	617	1.1	0	0.0
Cheshire	1,405	1.4	166	0.2	-55	-0.1
Cleveland	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Hartlepool(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Middlesborough(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Redcar and Cleveland(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Stockton-on-Tees(10)	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--	(11)--
Cornwall	1,146	2.7	262	0.6	-41	-0.1
Cumbria	602	1.2	-199	-0.5	69	0.2
Derbyshire	3,647	3.3	2,545	2.8	-71	-0.1
Devon	3,103	3.3	-134	-0.2	-42	-0.1
Dorset	2,808	5.7	-271	-0.6	-86	-0.2
Durham	1,548	2.7	225	0.4	-40	-0.1
East Sussex	2,359	3.3	-300	-o.7	0	0.0
Essex	4,090	2.3	762	0.6	105	0.1
Gloucestershire	1,034	1.7	266	0.6	45	0.1
Hampshire	2,733	1.3	-5	0.0	-3	0.0
Hereford and Worcester	-698	-2.3	-157	-0.4	-11	0.0
Hertfordshire	3,868	3.6	475	0.5	0	0.0
Humberside	-	-	-	-	-	-
East Riding of Yorkshire(10)	-	-	-	-	-	-
City of Kingston Upon Hull	-	-	-	-	-	-
North East Lincolnshire(10)	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Lincolnshire(10)	-	-	-	-	-	--
Isle of Wight	-604	-8.6	105	1.4	0	0.0
Kent	3,127	1.9	-255	-0.2	17	0.0
Lancashire	4,289	2.8	2,491	1.9	58	0.0
Leicestershire	1,078	0.9	708	0.9	184	0.2
Lincolnshire	682	0.7	483	0.9	-42	-0.1
Norfolk	178	-0.4	-524	-0.9	-43	-0.1
Northamptonshire	1,926	3.2	243	0.4	-1	0.0
Northumberland	-164	-0.6	302	1.6	0	0.0
North Yorkshire	-	-	-	-	-	-
York(10)	-	-	-	-	-	-
North Yorkshire(10)	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nottingham	5,409	5.6	2,427	2.7	371	0.4
Oxfordshire	2,482	5.6	-49	-0.2	0	0.0
Shropshire	120	-0.5	496	1.3	-102	-0.3
Somerset	447	0.5	844	2.2	-41	-0.1
Staffordshire	-671	-0.9	-410	-0.5	-102	-0.1
Suffolk	580	1.1	-215	-0.5	0	0.0
Surrey	810	0.6	533	0.7	-45	-0.1
Warwickshire	-73	2.2	180	0.7	-1	0.0
West Sussex	890	0.7	70	0.1	0	0.0
Wiltshire	1,117	1.7	215	0.4	0	0.0
England	83,680	1.6	14,122	0.3	-622	0.0

(8)Number of pupils in classes taught by one teacher expressed as a percentage of all pupils in classes taught by one teacher.

(9) Percentage of pupils in 1997 minus percentage of pupils in 1996.

(10) No comparable data for new Unitary authorities.

(11) Not applicable.

2 Dec 1997 : Column: 145

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the average size of single teacher classes in primary schools in January in each local education authority and in total; and what was the actual and percentage change in numbers compared with January 1996 in each local education authority and in total. [18869]

Mr. Byers: The information is shown in the following table.

Average size of classes taught by one teacher in maintained primary schools in each local education authority area in England: 1996 and 1997Position as at January each year

			Change(12)
	1996	1997	Number 1996-97	Percentage 1996-97
City of London	26.8	26.0	-0.8	-2.8
Camden	27.3	27.1	-0.1	-0.5
Greenwich	25.5	26.0	0.4	1.7
Hackney	26.1	26.1	-0.1	-0.2
Hammersmith	26.1	25.3	-0.8	-2.9
Islington	26.2	26.6	0.3	1.2
Kensington and Chelsea	24.4	25.3	0.9	3.7
Lambeth	24.6	25.2	0.6	2.5
Lewisham	25.7	26.1	0.3	1.3
Southwark	26.2	26.4	0.3	1.0
Tower Hamlets	25.8	26.2	0.4	1.7
Wandsworth	25.4	25.8	0.4	1.4
Westminster	24.9	24.2	-0.7	-3.0
Barking	26.7	27.0	0.3	1.3
Barnet	26.3	26.2	-0.1	-0.3
Bexley	28.6	28.8	0.1	0.5
Brent	26.7	26.5	-0.2	-0.7
Bromley	28.7	28.5	-0.2	-0.8
Croydon	28.3	28.3	0.0	0.0
Ealing	27.2	27.1	-0.1	-0.5
Enfield	28.5	29.1	0.6	1.9
Haringey	27.0	26.9	-0.1	-0.4
Harrow	27.8	27.5	-0.3	-1.0
Havering	27.9	27.9	0.0	0.0
Hillingdon	26.6	27.2	0.6	2.2
Hounslow	27.3	26.8	-0.5	-1.7
Kingston upon Thames	30.0	29.4	-0.7	-2.3
Merton	28.1	27.3	-0.8	-2.8
Newham	27.9	27.9	0.1	0.3
Redbridge	29.0	28.4	-0.6	-2.1
Richmond upon Thames	26.7	27.2	0.6	2.1
Sutton	27.3	28.1	0.8	2.8
Waltham Forest	26.4	26.6	0.2	0.7
Birmingham	27.8	27.7	0.0	-0.1
Coventry	27.2	27.6	0.4	1.3
Dudley	26.9	26.5	-0.4	-1.4
Sandwell	28.6	28.9	0.3	1.0
Solihull	28.2	27.9	-0.3	-1.0
Walsall	26.0	26.2	0.2	0.8
Wolverhampton	26.5	26.9	0.4	1.6
Knowsley	27.6	27.7	0.1	0.3
Liverpool	26.8	26.8	0.0	0.0
St. Helens	27.5	27.8	0.3	0.9
Sefton	27.5	27.6	0.1	0.3
Wirral	26.4	26.3	-0.1	-0.4
Bolton	28.5	28.9	0.4	1.5
Bury	28.3	28.3	0.0	-0.1
Manchester	27.0	27.2	0.2	0.9
Oldham	28.6	29.3	0.6	2.2
Rochdale	29.2	29.6	0.5	1.6
Salford	27.4	27.3	-0.1	-0.4
Stockport	27.7	27.8	0.1	0.3
Tameside	29.3	29.3	0.0	0.0
Trafford	28.7	28.9	0.3	1.0
Wigan	28.2	28.5	0.3	1.0
Barnsley	28.2	28.9	0.6	2.2
Doncaster	28.2	28.1	-0.1	-0.5
Rotherham	26.9	27.7	0.8	3.0
Sheffield	26.8	26.9	0.1	0.5
Bradford	27.9	28.3	0.4	1.3
Calderdale	27.7	28.0	0.2	0.8
Kirklees	28.7	29.0	0.3	1.2
Leeds	28.1	28.3	0.2	0.6
Wakefield	28.0	28.2	0.2	0.7
Gateshead	25.9	25.8	-0.1	-0.3
Newcastle upon Tyne	27.7	27.6	-0.1	-0.3
North Tyneside	27.0	27.1	0.0	0.1
South Tyneside	26.8	27.0	0.2	0.8
Sunderland	25.6	26.0	0.3	1.3
Isles of Scilly	13.7	17.3	3.6	26.3
Avon	27.7	(13)--	(13)--	(13)--
Bath and North east Somerset(14)	(13)--	27.0	(13)--	(13)--
City of Bristol(14)	(13)--	27.2	(13)--	(13)--
North Somerset(14)	(13)--	27.8	(13)--	(13)--
South Gloucestershire(14)	(13)--	28.5	(13)--	(13)--
Bedfordshire	27.1	27.4	0.3	1.2
Berkshire	27.3	27.5	0.2	0.6
Buckinghamshire	27.8	27.9	0.1	0.3
Cambridgeshire	27.8	28.2	0.4	1.4
Cheshire	27.4	27.5	0.0	0.0
Cleveland	26.9	(13)--	(13)--	(13)--
Hartlepool(14)	(13)--	28.0	(13)--	(13)-
Middlesbrough(14)	(13)--	26.5	(13)--	(13)--
Redcar and Cleveland(14)	(13)--	27.4	(13)--	(13)--
Stockton on Tees(14)	(13)--	26.8	(13)--	(13)--
Cornwall	27.3	27.3	0.0	0.0
Cumbria	26.0	26.3	0.2	0.9
Derbyshire	28.9	29.3	0.3	1.1
Devon	27.2	27.4	0.2	0.9
Dorset	27.7	28.2	0.5	1.7
Durham	28.4	28.5	0.0	0.1
East Sussex	27.7	28.2	0.5	1.8
Essex	26.9	27.3	0.4	1.6
Gloucestershire	27.2	27.4	0.2	0.8
Hampshire	27.8	27.9	0.1	0.3
Hereford and Worcester	25.9	26.0	0.2	0.6
Hertfordshire	26.7	27.1	0.4	1.5
Humberside	27.9	(13)--	(13)--	(13)--
East Riding of Yorkshire(14)	(13)--	28.3	(13)--	(13)--
City of Kingston Upon Hull(14)	(13)--	28.8	(13)--	(13)--
North East Lincolnshire(14)	(13)--	28.1	(13)--	(13)--
North Lincolnshire(14)	(13)--	27.7	(13)--	(13)--
Isle of Wight	26.9	25.9	-1.0	-3.9
Kent	27.7	28.0	0.2	0.9
Lancashire	28.4	28.8	0.3	1.2
Leicestershire	26.7	26.7	0.0	-0.1
Lincolnshire	26.7	26.9	0.1	0.5
Norfolk	26.0	25.9	-0.1	-0.3
Northamptonshire	26.5	27.0	0.4	1.6
Northumberland	27.1	27.0	-0.1	-0.5
North Yorkshire	26.3	(13)--	(13)--	(13)--
York(14)	(13)--	27.6	(13)--	(13)--
North Yorkshire(14)	(13)--	26.3	(13)--	(13)--
Nottinghamshire	28.3	28.7	0.4	1.5
Oxfordshire	26.8	27.2	0.3	1.2
Shropshire	27.3	27.4	0.1	0.4
Somerset	27.3	27.6	0.3	1.1
Staffordshire	27.7	27.5	-0.2	-0.8
Suffolk	25.1	25.0	-0.1	-0.4
Surrey	25.8	26.2	0.4	1.6
Warwickshire	27.9	28.5	0.6	2.3
West Sussex	26.8	26.8	0.0	0.2
Wiltshire	27.1	27.2	0.1	0.4
England	27.3	27.5	0.2	0.6

(12) Rounding of components may cause discrepancies in number and percentage changes.

(13) Not applicable.

(14) No comparable data for new unitary authorities.

2 Dec 1997 : Column: 147

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