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Football Study Support Centres
Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the effect of attendance at football study support centres on the educational standards of the children concerned. [89719]
Mr. Charles Clarke: In June 1998, the Department commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to evaluate the first six centres in order to provide early indications of their effectiveness and to inform future development plans. NFER's report is very positive about the impact of the centres and will be published in September 1999. A more extensive evaluation of all Playing for Success centres will begin in August 1999.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the cost per pupil of a pupil attending a football study support centre. [89720]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
Precise figures are not yet available. Most centres are still in the early stages of development and are adjusting module lengths, pupil numbers and infrastructure arrangements in the light of experience. However, the Department estimates the average cost per pupil at approximately £150.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much funding for football study support centres has been obtained from (a) sponsors and (b) football clubs. [89723]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The amount of sponsorship for Playing for Success is substantial, and sponsors have equipped some centres with full suites of IT hardware. The Department is in the process of quantifying the total sponsorship sum. Each football club is required to contribute one third of the total costs, estimated at £110,000 per annum, in cash or kind.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the extent to which children who are (a) disaffected with school and (b) likely to become disaffected have joined football study support centres. [89718]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
The Playing for Success initiative is specifically targeted at those young people who are disaffected or who are identified as in danger of becoming so. The schools involved are the best judges of which pupils fall into those categories and select pupils who are most likely to benefit from attendance at the centres.
Mr. Clappison:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the Premier League and Division One football clubs providing study support centres in (a) 1999 and (b) 2000; and how many children are (i) attending and (ii) planned to attend such centres in the case of each football club. [89721]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Details are shown in the table. Expected opening dates are provisional and the numbers of children taking part are estimated.
(1) Not applicable
(1) Not known
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Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of girls attending football study support centres. [89722]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The national evaluation report of the first six centres by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found girls attended in equal numbers to boys. Feedback from individual Playing for Success centre managers, who monitor attendance by gender, confirms this pattern.
Local Learning and Skills Councils
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment in establishing boundaries for local Learning and Skills Councils, how he will ensure that the boundaries fit with local travel-to-work and travel-to- study patterns and are within regional development agency/Government office boundaries in cases where local travel-to-work and travel-to-study patterns cross the RDA/Government office boundaries. [90086]
Mr. Mudie:
We have asked the regional development agencies (RDAs) and the London Development Partnership for advice on the boundaries of the local Learning and Skills Councils within each region. In drawing up their advice, we have proposed a set of
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principles which RDAs need to follow. These include that boundaries must fit within RDA/Government office boundaries and should take into account best fit with travel-to-work and travel-to-study areas. They should also be consistent with other key local economic or social units and partnerships--especially with local authorities. We will take decisions on boundaries on the basis of these criteria and the advice of RDAs.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what will be the maximum number of local Learning and Skills Councils in each regional development agency/Government office boundary consistent with the Government's objectives of having no more than 50 such councils nationally. [90064]
Mr. Mudie:
We have asked regional development agencies (RDAs) and the London Development Partnership to make proposals on the boundaries for local Learning and Skills Councils by the end of September. We have not set a maximum number for each region, but have set some key principles which will underpin the RDAs' considerations and our decisions on the boundaries. These include a minimum residential population of 0.5 million.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 11 February 1999, Official Report, column 336, on nursery education, what percentage of three-year-olds in each of the local education authorities listed (a) currently have (i) free full-time early education places and (ii) free part-time early education places and (b) will have (i) free full-time early education places and (ii) free part-time early education places when the promised additional places are provided. [89751]
Ms Hodge:
The information is not available in the form requested. Participation rates for individual ages cannot be provided at local education authority level as the underlying population estimates are not sufficiently reliable.