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Class Sizes
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of, and how many primary school pupils were in classes of over (i) 30, (ii) 36 and (iii) 40 in September 1998 in each local education authority and in total; and what was the actual and percentage change in numbers compared with September (a) 1996 and (b) 1997 in each local education authority and in total. [63500]
Ms Estelle Morris: The information is not collected centrally.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the bids made by local education authorities before 20 November for capital expenditure to meet the Government's class size pledge. [63328]
Ms Estelle Morris: Bids were received from the local education authorities listed below:
- Barking and Dagenham
- Barnet
- Barnsley
- Bath and North East Somerset
- Bedfordshire
- Bexley
- Birmingham
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Bolton
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- Bournemouth
- Bracknell
- Brent
- Brighton and Hove
- Bristol
- Bromley
- Buckinghamshire
- Bury
- Calderdale
- Cambridgeshire
- Camden
- Cheshire
- Cornwall
- Coventry
- Croydon
- Cumbria
- Darlington
- Derby
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Doncaster
- Dorset
- Dudley
- Durham
- Ealing
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Enfield
- Essex
- Gateshead
- Gloucestershire
- Greenwich
- Halton
- Hampshire
- Hartlepool
- Havering
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Hillingdon
- Hounslow
- Isle of Wight
- Kingston upon Hull
- Kingston upon Thames
- Kirklees
- Knowsley
- Lambeth
- Lancashire
- Leeds
- Leicester City
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Liverpool
- Luton
- Manchester
- Medway
- Merton
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle upon Tyne
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- Newham
- Norfolk
- North East Lincolnshire
- North Lincolnshire
- North Tyneside
- North Yorkshire
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- Nottingham City
- Nottinghamshire
- Oldham
- Oxfordshire
- Peterborough
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Redbridge
- Redcar amd Cleveland
- Rochdale
- Rotherham
- Salford
- Sandwell
- Sefton
- Sheffield
- Shropshire
- Slough
- Solihull
- Somerset
- South Gloucestershire
- Southampton
- Southend on Sea
- Southwark
- St. Helens
- Staffordshire
- Stockport
- Stockton on Tees
- Stoke on Trent
- Suffolk
- Sunderland
- Surrey
- Sutton
- Tameside
- Telford and Wrekin
- Thurrock
- Torbay
- Trafford
- Wakefield
- Walsall
- Waltham Forest
- Wandsworth
- Warrington
- Warwickshire
- West Berkshire
- West Sussex
- Wigan
- Wiltshire
- Windsor amd Maidenhead
- Wirral
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- Wokingham
- Wolverhampton
- Worcestershire.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many temporary classrooms (a) have been built and (b) are planned to be built to meet the Government's pledge on class sizes. [63329]
Ms Estelle Morris: We have made clear that where extra classrooms are needed to meet the class size limit, LEAs should provide permanent and not temporary classrooms. Plans will not be approved where these rely simply on the use of temporary accommodation.
Specific Grants
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list for each annual programme of specific grants for education since 1985 (a) whether there was a period of consultation before a circular was issued, (b) which grants were included, (c) for how many grants competitive bidding was required and (d) what percentage of the funds were (i) directly available to schools, (ii) allocated through local education authorities and (iii) made available by other routes. [63514]
Ms Estelle Morris: A reply to this question would involve disproportionate cost.
University Teachers
Mr. Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of university teachers are engaged purely in research and have no teaching responsibilities; and how this percentage compares with (a) 1997, (b) 1996, (c) 1995 and (d) 1990. [63366]
Mr. Mudie: The percentage of university academic staff engaged purely in research is shown in the table:
| Year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1990-91 | (13)34.4 |
| 1994-95 | (14)28.3 |
| 1995-96 | (15)29.5 |
| 1996-97 | (16)29.6 |
(13) Based on Universities Statistical Record (USR) data for UK universities formerly funded by Universities Funding Council (UFC)
(14) Based on Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data for UK universities and colleges of higher education
(15) Ibid
(16) Ibid
Note:
Figures for the academic year 1997-98 are not yet available
Mr. Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what guidance he has given universities about the appropriate balance between research and teaching activities. [63367]
Mr. Mudie:
In our response to the Dearing Report on Higher Education in February 1998 we said that a better balance is needed in higher education between teaching, research and scholarship. Guidance to the Higher Education Funding Council for England issued on 8 December said that we expect the Council to promote and enhance high quality teaching and learning and welcomed the Council's proposals to set aside £30m for promoting and rewarding high quality in teaching. It also welcomed the Council's involvement in the preparation for an
14 Dec 1998 : Column: 389
Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. The guidance reflects our aim to promote effective learning and teaching, alongside our commitment to maintaining a world class science base.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his policy on the provision of free milk in schools. [63897]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
If local education authorities and grant-maintained schools choose to provide milk, they must, by law, supply it free to pupils whose parents receive income support or income based job-seekers allowance, but must charge other pupils.
Mr. Ruane:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he intends to carry out a full audit of how the funding under the Schools Access Initiative has been used throughout England and Wales. [63826]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Matters on expenditure in Wales are for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales. Local education authorities (LEAs) in England are asked each year to return confirmation of their spending in the previous financial year on projects supported through the Schools Access Initiative and to identify individual projects which have been carried out. Expenditure on such projects by LEAs and by grant maintained schools in England is subject to their normal external audit arrangements.
Mr. Willis:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the total amount of public subsidy to United Kingdom higher education institutions resulting from means-testing student tuition fees under the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998; and what is the total amount students and parents are expected to contribute under that Act. [63327]
Mr. Mudie:
The estimated public contributions to tuition fees for home and other EU students entering full-time undergraduate courses in 1998-99 in United Kingdom higher education institutions under the new funding arrangements is £184 million. The estimated contribution by students and parents is £163 million, which after allowance for the costs of collection and any default, will be received as income by institutions.
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