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Schools Adjudicators

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the persons appointed as schools adjudicators, indicating in each case whether they have served as members of local education authorities and to which political group in the authority they belonged. [105642]

Ms Estelle Morris: The list of adjudicators appointed is as follows:


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No adjudicator has been a member of a local education authority within the last five years. We do not hold full information on membership before that period.

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the names of the adjudicators he has appointed under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and their political affiliation. [106565]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 24 January 2000]: The list of adjudicators appointed is as follows:


We hold no information about the present political affiliation of adjudicators. As a matter of public record, Peter Downes declared at the time of his application that he had undertaken significant political activity in the last five years as a member of the Liberal Democrats and an elected member of Huntingdonshire District Council. No other adjudicator at present in post declared an engagement in significant political activities during the previous five years.

Summer Camps

Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has had from uniformed youth organisations following his announcement about proposals for summer activity camps for 16-year-olds; and if he will make a statement. [106469]

Jacqui Smith: We have received expressions of interest in summer activities from two uniformed youth organisations: the Scout Association and the Boys' Brigade.

Special Needs

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the percentage of special needs statements issued within 18 weeks by each London local education authority in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99. [106756]

Jacqui Smith: The Audit Commission publishes information on the percentage of draft statements of special educational needs produced by local education authorities within 18 weeks. Data for 1998-99 will not be available until the end of March and will be placed on the Audit Commission's internet website. The 1997-98 percentages for the London authorities given below do not

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include statements for which allowable exceptions from the relevant time limits, as set out in Part 3 of my Department's "Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs", have been made. In 1998 officials in my Department provided good-practice guidance to those LEAs whose performance was weakest. When the data for 1998-99 are available my officials will consider the need for further action to help LEAs improve their performance in this area.

LEAPercentage
Inner London:
Camden49
Greenwich6
Hackney56
Hammersmith and Fulham98
Islington88
Kensington and Chelsea85
Lambeth52
Lewisham92
Southwark92
Tower Hamlets43
Wandsworth99
Westminster82
(no figure is available for the City of London)
Outer London:
Barking and Dagenham12
Barnet50
Bexley97
Brent90
Bromley98
Croydon78
Ealing20
Enfield30
Haringey20
Harrow33
Havering94
Hillingdon22
Hounslow79
Kingston-upon-Thames100
Merton98
Newham65
Redbridge47
Richmond-upon-Thames30
Sutton29
Waltham Forest32

Children in Care

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent guidance his Department has issued on educational provision for children looked after by local authorities. [106753]

Jacqui Smith: In June last year, my Department and the Department of Health jointly consulted on draft guidance on the education of children looked after by local authorities. Some 205 consultees replied by the mid-October deadline, and officials have since discussed some of the key issues arising from the consultation with partners in local government and the voluntary sector. Officials are now revising the guidance, and I expect the final guidance to issue before the end of March.

We believe that this guidance, backed up by support for local authorities during the implementation period, should enable them to fulfil better their role as corporate parents

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and raise the level of educational attainment of this group of young people. Higher educational attainment should in turn improve their general life chances.

Ethical Trading

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what consultations his Department has had with the Department for International Development to promote awareness of ethical trading among school children. [106127]

Jacqui Smith [holding answer 24 January 2000]: My officials, and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, are currently working with the Department for International Development to develop a guidance document for schools on the opportunities and benefits of bringing a global perspective into different subjects and the wider life of school. This will draw attention to the many opportunities that the revised National Curriculum offers for raising children's awareness of a range of issues including ethical trading. It will also let teachers know where they can find advice, support and high quality resources which will support teaching and learning about these issues.

The programmes of study for Geography and Citizenship in the National Curriculum provide ample opportunities for pupils to learn about ethical trading since they include specific provision for teaching about the world as a global community, global interdependence and sustainable development. The emphasis is on explanatory discussion of contemporary issues and ethical trading would fall into that category.

School Buses

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment the School Travel Advisory Group has made of the contribution that the use of school buses can make to reducing traffic congestion. [106163]

Jacqui Smith: The School Travel Advisory Group (STAG), which presented its report to Ministers on 13 January, has made a number of recommendations in relation to school travel. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library. In particular, STAG has commissioned research into best practice on increasing bus use for journeys to school, to report in June 2000.

Departmental Consultation

Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the public consultation exercises on policy matters carried out by his Department and its agencies in each of the last five years; who was consulted and by what means; how responses were analysed; how and in what form the results were transmitted to those responsible for the consultation; how the results of the consultation were published; and what analysis has been carried out of the extent and nature of policy changes resulting from the consultation. [106302]

Mr. Wicks: Full information in the form requested is not available. Details of the public exercises listed on our consultations calendar for 1999 are as follows. I will write to my hon. Friend giving as full a reply as possible by the

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end of February. My Department has now set up a central Consultation Unit to advise on best practice in public policy consultations.



    Asset Management Plans


    Asset Management Plans--Section 4


    Asset Management Plans--Sufficiency


    Asset Management Plans--Options Appraisals


    Bringing Young People Back to School


    Budget Statements and Guidance


    Capacity Assessment Methods


    Categories of Fees


    Considering School Organisation Proposals--Changes in Arrangements


    Control of Premises


    Development of Value Added Measures for Performance Tables


    Devolution of Surplus Places--Draft Regulations


    DfEE/Employment Service Annual Performance Agreement


    Disability Rights Task Force Recommendations on Schools--Implementation


    Education (Adjudicators Procedure) Regulations 1999


    Education (GM and GM Special Schools) Capital Grants Regulations 1999


    Education (Non-Maintained Special School--England) Regulations 1999


    Education (Schedule 32 of the School Standards Framework) Regulations 1999


    Education (School Government England) Regulations 1999


    Education (Student Fees) (Exceptions) Regulations 1999 and accompanying guidance


    Education Act 1996: Local decision making on school organisations


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    Learning Information Networks


    Learning to Succeed School Sixth Form Funding


    Learning to Succeed: A New Framework for Post 16 Learning--White Paper


    LEAs--Electronic Version of the Standard Fund Grant Application Form


    LEAs--Good Practice in Relation to Resolving Disputes with Parents--Draft Guidance


    LEA Responsibility Towards Pupils Being Educated at Home by Their Parents


    Local Assisted Places Scheme


    Local Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults in England--Towards a National Framework


    Local and National Arrangements for Lifelong Learning, Skills and Workforce Development


    Local Publication of 1999 Primary School (Key Stage 2) Performance Tables


    Mandatory Awards Regulations (Education Act 1962)


    Nanny Agencies--Draft Code of Practice


    National Curriculum in England


    National Curriculum--Legal Language in Orders


    National Curriculum--Draft Proposals for New Orders


    National Professional Qualification for Head Teachers


    Networking Lifelong Learning: An Information and Learning Technology Development Strategy for Further Education


    New Arrangements Governing the Basis on Which Governing Bodies and LEAs Meet Specified Costs of Building Work at Voluntary Aided Schools


    New Opportunities Fund: Community Access to Lifelong Learning


    New Opportunities Fund: Funding for Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities


    New Schools (England)--Draft Regulations


    Nursery Education: Desirable Outcomes for Children's Learning on Entering Compulsory Education


    Nutritional Standards--Draft Regulations


    Organisation of School Places--Guidance


    Parent Governor Representation on Local Education Committees


    Policy Action Teams for Jobs


    Post 16 Structures for Learning and Workforce Development--Requests for Oral Evidence


    Pupil Restraint in Special Education Needs Settings--Draft Guidance


    Qualifying for Success: Changes to the Post 16 Curriculum: A Guide for Parents


    Registration and Monitoring Arrangements for Independent Schools


    Report of Research by National Children's Bureau on Good Practice in Special Educational Needs Parent Partnership and Research Brief


    School Admission Appeals Code of Practice


    School Governance (Terms of Reference) Regulations 1999--Draft Guidance


    School Lunches for Primary School Pupils


    School Lunches for Secondary School Pupils


    School Lunches for Under Fives


    School Meals Staff Regulations--The Next Steps


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    Standards Fund


    Strategic Planning 2000 and Beyond


    Student Loans Repayment Regulations 1999


    Student Support Regulations 1999/2000


    Suitability and Sufficiency Assessment


    Supported Employment Programme, The--Employment Service


    Tackling Truancy Together (Strategy Document)


    Teachers and Headteacher Appraisal Regulations 1999--Draft


    Teachers Meeting the Challenge of Change


    Teachers Pension Scheme and Additional Voluntary Contributions Arrangements


    Teachers Pensions Regulations--Compensation for Redundancy and Early Retirement


    Teachers Research Scholarship Programme--Round 1 and 2


    Teachers: Taking Forward the Challenge of Change


    Test Dates for 2002


    Transitional Grants 1999-2000


    Welsh Language Scheme.

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