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Ministerial Travel
Mr. Maples: To ask the Minister of State, Lord Chancellor's Department which ministers in his Department made use of (a) RAF and (b) chartered aircraft between 1 October 1998 and 31 January 1999; and if he will list the dates, destinations and costs of such flights. [69075]
Mr. Hoon: Neither I nor the Lord Chancellor have made use of a RAF or a chartered flight between 1 October 1998 and 31 January 1999.
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
Adult and Community Education
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the co-ordination between Ofsted and the Further Education Funding Council on the inspection of adult and community education; and if he will make a statement. [68868]
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many inspections of local authority adult and community education services have been conducted by Ofsted in each of the last six years; and what proportion of Ofsted's total inspections this represents. [68870]
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to increase the total number of inspections of local authority adult and community education services. [68871]
Mr. Mudie:
As part of their current corporate planning process, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked Ofsted to increase the number of its inspections of Local Education Authority adult education services in 1999-2000. I have asked Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools to write to the hon. Member about planned and the number of past inspections carried out by Ofsted,
4 Feb 1999 : Column: 706
and to place a copy of the letter in the Library. As set out in "The Learning Age", my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State believes there is scope for some collaborative working between Ofsted and the Further Education Funding Council Inspectorate in relation to adult and community education and he will consult the Chief Inspector and the Council about ways of achieving this.
Mr. Chaytor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list each further education college with a category C financial rating, together with the current deficit of each college. [68869]
Mr. Mudie:
Regular assessments to the financial health of colleges are made by the Further Education Funding Council; the details of individual colleges are treated as commercial-in-confidence. At the beginning of this year, 84 of the 435 further education colleges in England were assessed as falling into financial health category C. This is an improvement on the position at the beginning of last year when 95 of the then 444 further education colleges fell into this category.
Every year the Council publishes extracts from each further education college's audited financial statements. The extracts include the operating surplus or deficit for the year. The most recent figures are for the year ending 31 July 1997 and were published in December 1998. A copy is available in the Library.
Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received over the new procedures for proposed closures of local authority schools; and if he will make a statement. [69255]
Ms Estelle Morris:
We have received no representations concerned specifically with changes in procedures for the closure of schools. Under the provisions of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, consultation in the local area and the publication of statutory proposals will continue to be necessary before a school may be closed, and anyone may object to such proposals. We are currently consulting on the detailed regulations concerning statutory proposals for changes to schools, and in formulating the final arrangements we shall be considering any points made by those responding to consultation.
Mr. Winnick:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what advice has been given to schools by his Department over requests from the Sikh community for a day's absence in April for their children in order the celebrate the 300th anniversary of the beginning of their religion. [69256]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
None on this event as such. However, general advice on categorisation of absence was issued to schools in May 1994. This states that absence may be authorised where the pupil is absent on any day exclusively set aside for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil's parents belong.
4 Feb 1999 : Column: 707
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his oral statement of 27 January 1999, Official Report, column 306, on Highcliffe School, what factors account for the difference between his estimated figure for the school's balance this year and that contained in the letter dated 20 January 1999 from the Funding Agency for Schools to Dorset County Council. [68989]
Mr. Charles Clarke
[holding answer 2 February 1999]: The figure in the letter from Funding Agency for Schools to Dorset County Council was for the cumulative deficit of income over expenditure for 1998-99, calculated on an accruals basis. My right hon. Friend was referring to the estimated cash balance of the school at 31 March 1999, after an £83,000 overpayment of Annual Maintenance Grant has been deducted.
Mr. Dalyell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the (a) number and (b) age distribution of university staff specialising in nuclear physics research. [68828]
Mr. Mudie:
The data requested are not available centrally. The available data relate to academic staff in UK higher education institutions in 1996-97 whose primary academic discipline is physics. A breakdown by age and primary employment function is given for full time staff in the following table:
| Age | Teaching only | Research only | Teaching and Research | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 26 | 2 | 258 | 9 | 269 |
| 26-35 | 10 | 1,583 | 370 | 1,963 |
| 36-45 | 10 | 383 | 614 | 1,007 |
| 46-55 | 39 | 145 | 819 | 1,003 |
| 56 and over | 22 | 58 | 585 | 665 |
| Total | 83 | 2,427 | 2,397 | 4,907 |
Problem Children
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment his Department has made of the current systems used by local education authorities to educate children with emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems who do not have recognised learning difficulties. [68574]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Early identification of children's difficulties which are, or have the potential to become, barriers to learning, and measures to address these, are key elements of the government's education policy. Pilot schemes to develop work in this field are being supported in 1999-2000 through the Special Educational Needs Standards Fund Grant. Guidance in the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, a revised version of which is expected to come into effect in 2000-01, enables Local Education Authorities to assess whether children's wider difficulties, including emotional, behavioural and psychiatric conditions, are likely to affect their learning to the extent that they need extra support.
4 Feb 1999 : Column: 708
The Department will take a keen interest in the results of the current survey being undertaken for the Department of Health, Scottish Office and Welsh Office by the Office for National Statistics Social Survey Division on the development and mental health of around 10,000 children.
Mr. Chisholm:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland applied for severe hardship payments in the latest year for which figures are available. [68770]
Mr. Andrew Smith:
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.
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