| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Maintained Nursery Schools
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the maintained nursery schools that have closed in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000. [119198]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 14 April 2000]: The maintained nursery schools that have closed in the academic years 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 are listed in the following table. There are no proposals for nursery school closure currently under consideration as far as the Department is aware. All the nursery school closures were linked to the establishment of alternative nursery units at other schools except one where the nursery school was closed as there were surplus nursery places in the area. Since 1997, four new nursery schools have been established.
(8) Nursery school closed as there were surplus places in the nearby nursery unit at Lache Primary School
(9) Closures linked to establishment of nursery units at neighbouring schools
(10) Proposals in italics have yet to be implemented
17 Apr 2000 : Column: 349W
Capital Modernisation Fund
Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to make further allocations from the Capital Modernisation Fund which will benefit disadvantaged communities. [119655]
Mr. Wills: We are pleased to announce that £10 million is being allocated from the Capital Modernisation Fund to help bridge the digital divide in the most disadvantaged communities. The initiative will do this by wiring up communities to enable people living in them to use the new information and communications technologies to access jobs, learning opportunities, Government and other services, and to help individuals and their communities fulfil their potential.
School Funding
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment by what means each school will receive the additional direct funding announced in the Budget; and what conditions will be applied as to how the resources are to be spent. [119199]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 14 April 2000]: My right hon. Friend laid a special report, under section 88B of the Local Government Act 1988, before the House on 6 April. Once it has been approved, it will empower him to make payments to local authorities on condition that they pass those payments to schools, within a specified time period. The additional funding will be part of schools' delegated budgets, so they will be free to decide what to spend it on. It will give extra support to secondary schools in raising standards as part of the new Key Stage 3 programme, which will include: the setting of challenging school-level targets, and development of strategies to meet them, by all secondary schools with Key Stage 3 pupils for performance in the Key Stage 3
17 Apr 2000 : Column: 350W
tests in 2002; and new Year 7 tests for pupils who have not yet achieved level 4 in English and maths. The tests will be available free in 2001 so that all secondary and middle schools can test all eligible pupils. The additional funding will help primary schools to meet the challenging literacy and numeracy targets they have set for both 2001 and 2002.
Community Learning
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the future of community learning, its funding and the bodies that will be responsible for determining the provision of community learning in each local education authority area. [119494]
Mr. Wicks: In our Prospectus for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) we made it clear that adult and community learning is a vital part of the Government's plans to drive up achievement, widen participation in learning, and strengthen community confidence and capacity.
Our first consultation document on the funding of post 16 learning, published in January, confirmed the strategic contribution that local authorities, together with local Learning and Skills Councils, can make. The Learning and Skills Bill (Lords) now before Parliament includes the necessary provisions to allow this. The Secretary of State has already recognised the importance of local education authorities in adult and community learning by guaranteeing them a minimum level of funding in the first two years of the LSC, provided they maintain their spend in this area and effectively implement their lifelong learning plans.
Our second funding consultation document, to be published in May, will set out the roles of all those concerned in post 16 learning and invite comments on our proposals for funding, including the funding of adult and community learning.
ConneXions Service
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many staff will be employed by his Department, additional to the current establishment, as a result of the introduction of ConneXions. [119497]
Mr. Wicks: The ConneXions service will largely be staffed by existing civil servants, but will draw as necessary on secondees from other Government Departments, the voluntary, youth and private sectors where appropriate. We do not anticipate any significant increase in the current establishment.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the funding of the ConneXions service and its impact on local education authority budgets. [119496]
Mr. Wicks: The funding for the ConneXions service will come from the bringing together of existing resources devoted to youth support and guidance. We are also considering what additional resources will be needed and can be made available as part of the Government's Year 2000 Spending Review.
17 Apr 2000 : Column: 351W
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much time on average he estimates that a personal adviser will spend with each young person under the ConneXions service. [119500]
Mr. Wicks: This will depend on the needs of each individual young person.
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how he plans to screen mentors in the ConneXions Service for their suitability to work with young people. [119144]
Mr. Wicks: The ConneXions service is responsible for the physical and emotional safety of all young people coming into contact with mentors. ConneXions partnerships will have responsibility for ensuring that personal checks have been completed on mentors working with young people.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many personal advisers will be employed in the ConneXions service. [119499]
Mr. Wicks: The ConneXions service will ensure that every young person, whatever their needs, has local access to appropriate high quality guidance and support during their teenage years. A key factor in achieving this will be to ensure that all young people have access to a personal adviser. It is too early at this stage to give precise information on the numbers of personal advisers to be employed by the ConneXions service. The service will be phased in from April 2001 and the ConneXions partnerships will be responsible for deciding how best to deliver the service in their area, in the light of local circumstances.
Piloting of the service which is due to start shortly will provide helpful information on the number of personal advisers needed.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |