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First Aid
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what funding is given to schools to provide first aid training to school children. [85699]
Mr. Charles Clarke: There is no specific funding allocated to schools to provide first aid training, but schools may choose to use part of their budget to do so if they wish.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and what percentage of school children currently receive first aid training in schools; and if he will make a statement. [85701]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Department for Education and Employment does not collect these data.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will introduce first aid training for all school children. [85700]
Mr. Charles Clarke: On 13 May, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment announced his proposals for the review of the National Curriculum in England. These include a non-statutory framework for Personal, Social and Health Education. At Key Stage 2 and 3, it is proposed that to develop a healthy lifestyle and keep themselves and others safe, pupils should be taught basic emergency aid procedures and where to get help and support.
National Minimum Wage
Mr. Rowlands:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people in his Department and its associated bodies and agencies have benefited from the introduction of a national minimum wage. [86097]
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Mr. Mudie:
No staff have benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage. When it was introduced on 1 April 1999, all staff earned more than the minimum wage.
Mr. Sawford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many responses to the consultation paper on teachers have been received; and how many and what percentage were received from (a) headteachers, (b) teachers, (c) governors and governing bodies, (d) education authorities and (e) others; [85738]
Ms Estelle Morris:
We have received 40,000 responses to the Green Paper, "teachers: meeting the challenge of change". 36,060 respondents replied using the Department's response form. These responses can be broken down as follows:
We will be making the outcome of the consultation exercise public once the responses have been fully analysed.
Miss Begg:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps have been taken to safeguard the interests of the voluntary sector in early years services. [85423]
Ms Hodge:
We have taken a number of steps to ensure that voluntary pre-schools and playgroups contribute fully to early education and care. The voluntary and private sectors have to be represented on the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships which plan the delivery and development of local early years service. Each partnership has to provide specifically for the involvement of voluntary providers; to assess the health of the non-maintained sector in their areas; and to show financial support that may be available. Plans for the provision of additional places for 3 year olds, for which we are making available new funding of £390 million over three years from September 1999, must also fully involve the voluntary sector.
The same principles apply to Sure Start, which will provide integrated and community-based services for 0 to 3s and their families. The voluntary sector is a significant partner in all 60 Trailblazer programmes, and leads some of them.
In March, I appointed an independent review team to advise on how pre-schools and playgroups can contribute further to the development of early education and child care; the team will report by August. Good voluntary pre-schools and playgroups that are in financial
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difficulties will also be able to apply for special short term grants under the new £500,000 scheme also announced in March.
Mr. Coaker:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps his Department has taken to increase the ability of parents to send their children to the school of their choice. [85431]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Our commitment to increase parental choice is made clear in the Code of Practice on Admissions which came into force on 1 April. The Code reminds LEAs and governing bodies that they have an overriding duty to comply with parents' declared preferred school for their child. We want parents to be able to send their children to their preferred school wherever practicable, and LEAs should make every effort to ensure that they have sufficient school places to allow the maximum number of parents to obtain a place at a school of their choice. The funding we are providing to LEAs to meet our infant class size pledge will enable 12,000 extra places at popular schools to be achieved.
Mr. Dismore:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps have been taken by his Department to encourage parents to read to their young children. [85408]
Ms Estelle Morris:
We have run a series of TV and radio adverts advertising a free leaflet entitled "A little reading goes a long way". The leaflet offers parents practical advice about how to read with their children. Over 1 million copies have been requested so far and a further 2 million have been distributed through various outlets, including supermarkets and doctors' waiting rooms.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received on his proposals for the establishment of a disability rights commission. [85404]
Ms Hodge:
A public consultation on the Government White Paper "Promoting Disabled People's Rights--Creating a Disability Rights Commission fit for the 21st Century", was held last year.
Seven thousand individuals and organisations were sent a copy of the White Paper or a summary of it. Out of 626 responses, 94 per cent. supported the main proposals on the establishment and role of the Commission. An analysis of responses compiled by an independent market research organisation has been placed in the Library. The report is available in a range of alternative formats on request.
Five national consultation conferences on the White Paper held in September 1998 were attended by over 300 delegates from the business, public and voluntary sectors. The views of the delegates are also reflected in the report.
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Mr. Rammell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what provisions the National Curriculum contains to ensure the teaching of literacy in primary schools. [85427]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
We have successfully introduced the National Literacy Strategy, which includes a literacy hour for all primary school pupils. Under the national curriculum review proposals, the English programmes of study have been aligned with the National Literacy Strategy "Framework for teaching" so that they support it fully.
Mr. David Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps his Department has taken to support and train headteachers. [85391]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The contribution of the head is pivotal in leading schools to excellence and we are committed to helping all headteachers to develop the skills and knowledge they need. We are investing £100 million over the next three years to ensure heads have access to high quality, practical and professional training at every stage of their careers. As set out in the Green Paper, "teachers: meeting the challenge of change", we will build on the existing headship training programmes to develop a new national framework of training and development opportunities. Already, some 400 teachers have achieved the National Professional Qualification for Headship and some 6,000 are now in training. We are developing further the NPQH to build on the strengths of the qualification before making it a mandatory requirement for all those coming new to headship. The Green Paper also set out our intention to establish a National College for School Leadership. On 2 June we published our prospectus for the college, which will be a driving force for world-class leadership in schools, providing professional support for heads through cutting-edge training and development opportunities. Responsibility for designing and overseeing the existing headship programmes will move to the national college when it is established in 2000.
(2) in the responses to the consultation paper on teachers, how many and what percentage of (a) headteachers, (b) teachers, (c) governors and governing bodies, (d) education authorities and (e) others, expressed support for performance related pay. [85739]
(a) 3,007 (8 per cent.) from headteachers;
(b) 20,752 (58 per cent.) from teachers;
(c) 11,343 (31 per cent.) from governors;
(d) 102 (0.3 per cent.) from local education authorities and
(e) 192 (2 per cent.) from others.
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