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Correspondence

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 30 September 1999 on behalf of his constituent Mr. Chambers. [105920]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 20 January 2000]: A reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire was sent on 25 November 1999.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departmental Website

Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans she has to publish full text versions of new departmental documents on her Department's website. [106433]

Clare Short: Plans are under way to have the majority of DFID publications produced since May 1997 available in full text format on DFID's website.

All new DFID publications, as well as much of our research material, is already available through DFID's website in full text format.

Afghanistan

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations she has received concerning the situation of women's human rights in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement. [107008]

Clare Short: Human rights issues are frequently covered in discussions on Afghanistan between my Department and other interested parties. We have had no specific representations on women's human rights recently.

We remain extremely concerned about abuses of human rights in Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan, in particular women and children, have suffered immeasurably as a result of two decades of conflict, destruction and displacement. In pursuing its programme of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, DFID actively participates in the principled common programming approach under the United Nations-led Strategic Framework for Afghanistan. This approach is

28 Jan 2000 : Column: 386W

designed to ensure that assistance works towards the eradication of any form of discrimination, including, of course, gender discrimination.

Departmental Press Releases

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many Press releases her Department issued in each year from 1995 to 1999. [106119]

Clare Short: Number of press releases issued from 1995-99 are outlined as follows:

	Press releases
Issued by ODA
1995	71
1996	50
To May 1997	16
Issued by DFID
From May 1997	42
1998	74
1999	82

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Sure Start

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the geographical statistical unit being used to judge the outcome of the Sure Start areas. [103003]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 16 December 1999]: I have been asked to reply.

Sure Start will be judged on its outcomes for children, families and areas. The geographical statistical unit for which area outcomes will be judged will be the local Sure Start programme area.

Violent Pupils

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many pupil attacks on teachers were recorded in each of the years since 1992. [107478]

Jacqui Smith: This information is not available centrally.

Teacher Competencies

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will publish the consultation document on teacher competencies that has been sent to the teacher trade unions together with a list of all those who have been consulted on the document. [107540]

Ms Estelle Morris: No consultation document has been published. As part of on-going discussions with teacher and headteacher unions about proposed reforms of the teaching profession, DfEE has had informal discussions about the standards which teachers would be required to meet in order to cross the proposed new performance threshold. We will write to School Teachers' Review Body statutory consultees during February 2000 to invite views on the proposed standards.

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Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he expects to receive the report by Hay McBer on teacher competencies and other aspects of performance-related pay; and if he will place a copy in the Library. [107536]

Ms Estelle Morris: DfEE expects to receive the final report from Hay McBer on the characteristics of effective teaching at the end of February 2000 and intends to publish it shortly thereafter, probably during March 2000. A copy will be placed in the Library.

Ofsted Inspections (LEAs)

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list those local education authorities on which Ofsted has reported, and the outcome of each report. [107537]

Ms Estelle Morris: To date, 55 Ofsted inspection reports have been published on 51 LEAs. A list of the LEAs inspected, including those that were re-inspected, is as follows. The Education Act 1997 requires each LEA to submit a post-Ofsted inspection action plan setting out how it intends to tackle the recommendations in its Ofsted inspection report. In a number of cases the Secretary of State has taken additional action as follows.

In Hackney, following reports by the consultants KPMG, the Secretary of State directed the LEA to outsource its School Improvement Service and Ethnic Minority Service to Nord Anglia.

In Islington, the consultancy firm PWC were appointed to prepare for the outsourcing of the LEA's services to schools, pupils and parents. On 14 January, Cambridge Education Associates were appointed to run the contract from April 2000.

In Leicester, City OPM were appointed to advise on next steps. The OPM report made several recommendations which are now being taken forward by the LEA, including the establishment of a Partnership Board to oversee Education Services.

In Liverpool, KPMG were appointed to advise on post-Ofsted action. As a result, a contract is being put in place between the schools and the Education Service which will include setting out exactly what services and standards schools can expect from each part of the Education Service. A monitoring and review board with an independent chair has also been set up.

Capita were appointed in Haringey and KPMG in Southwark to provide consultancy services on how best to improve both education services. Work is on-going in both LEAs. In Walsall and Bristol, we are in the process of appointing consultants to advise on the most appropriate course of action following the publication of their Ofsted reports.

LEAS inspected and reported upon by Ofsted including pilot and re-inspections:

Barking and Dagenham

Barnsley

Barnet

Bedfordshire

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Birmingham

Brent

Bristol

Bromley

Buckinghamshire

Bury

Calderdale

Calderdale (2)

Calderdale (3)

Cornwall

Doncaster

Durham

Greenwich

Hackney

Hackney (2)

Halton

Haringey

Hertfordshire

Islington

Kent

Kingston-upon-Hull

Kirklees

Kingston-upon-Thames

Knowsley

Lambeth

Leicester City

Leicestershire

Lewisham

Liverpool

Manchester

Middlesbrough

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Newham

Nottinghamshire

Norfolk

Northumberland ¹

North Somerset

Oxfordshire

Rotherham ²

Rutland

Sandwell

Solihull

Southwark

Southwark (2)

Staffordshire

Stoke-on-Trent

Surrey

Sunderland

Tower Hamlets

Walsall

Warwickshire

¹ A Joint Inspection by Ofsted and the Social Services Inspectorate

² Mini inspection of premises only.

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Agency Teachers

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many agency teachers were employed in each London borough on the day of census in January 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. [106690]

Ms Estelle Morris: The table shows the number of agency teachers, on contracts of less than one month, in each London borough at January 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, who worked for the whole of the census day in the maintained nursery, primary and secondary sector. Data for January 2000 are not yet available.

	1999	1998	1997	1996
City of London	1	0	0	0
Camden	74	43	61	52
Greenwich	50	64	40	66
Hackney	64	60	29	17
Hammersmith and Fulham	55	61	47	34
Islington	119	42	77	3
Kensington and Chelsea	51	60	55	39
Lambeth	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lewisham	88	60	65	57
Southwark	113	109	89	93
Tower Hamlets	71	96	60	n/a
Wandsworth	33	47	17	17
City of Westminster	58	58	44	31
Barking and Dagenham	70	69	44	24
Barnet	61	43	19	10
Bexley	41	20	18	15
Brent	11	27	15	9
Bromley	13	4	5	3
Croydon	67	59	65	40
Ealing	19	33	9	10
Enfield	26	31	15	13
Haringey	88	79	73	82
Harrow	0	23	10	8
Havering	33	29	5	9
Hillingdon	8	7	4	5
Hounslow	53	29	48	22
Kingston-upon-Thames	5	14	3	2
Merton	42	53	45	n/a
Newham	121	137	158	121
Redbridge	8	8	0	0
Richmond-upon-Thames	8	3	4	8
Sutton	20	22	28	9
Waltham Forest	31	34	n/a	n/a

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