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EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

Class Sizes (Kingston)

Mr. Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what was the average class size in secondary schools in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames for each year since 1979. [123133]

Ms Estelle Morris: The information requested is shown in the following table. The latest provisional estimates for January 2000 show that as few as 0.9 per cent. of pupils were in one teacher classes of over 35 pupils in maintained secondary schools in Kingston upon Thames local education authority area.

Provisional national estimates of class sizes in maintained secondary schools in England were published in Statistical First Release "Class sizes in maintained schools in England: January 2000" on 14 April 2000. Information by local education authority area has been placed in the Library.

The element within the Kingston upon Thames SSA which relates to secondary pupils of compulsory school age has risen from £19.44 million in 1997-98 to £22.70 million in 2000-01. Over the same period, funding per secondary pupil of compulsory school age in the local education authority has increased in real terms from £3,010 to £3,300. It is open to Kingston upon Thames to use some of these increased resources to employ extra teachers.

In addition, schools in Kingston upon Thames received a total of £791,000 in direct grants in May 2000 as their share of the £290 million funding increase that was announced in the Budget of 21 March 2000.

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Average class sizes taught by one teacher in maintained secondary schools in the local education authority area of Kingston upon Thames: 1979-2000 (provisional)Position as at January

Year	Number of pupils	Number of classes	Average class size
2000	7,970	366	21.8
1999	7,551	359	21.0
1998	7,584	361	21.0
1997	7,695	381	20.2
1996	7,563	375	20.2
1995	7,238	362	20.0
1994	6,844	334	20.5
1993	6,947	352	19.7
1992	6,849	361	19.0
1991	6,424	346	18.6
1990	6,192	338	18.3
1989	6,440	356	18.1
1988	6,797	360	18.9
1987	6,846	346	19.8
1986	7,262	387	18.8
1985	7,864	396	19.9
1984	8,132	407	20.0
1983	8,479	407	20.8
1982	8,641	430	20.1
1981	8,728	425	20.5
1980	8,836	440	20.1
1979	8,685	432	20.1

Further Education

Mrs. Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many further education college lecturers transferred from the further education sector to the maintained schools sector in 1999-2000. [124173]

Mr. Wicks: Data on the movement of teachers from the further education sector to the maintained school sector are not available for 1999-2000.

Teachers of the Deaf

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will list (a) the funding made available in each of the last five years through the Standards Fund to help LEAs with the costs of training teachers of children with special educational needs, including training leading to the mandatory qualifications and (b) the amount and the proportion of that funding spent on mandatory training for teachers of the deaf for each of the last five years; [124466]

(2) what guidance his Department gives to the Standards Fund to ensure adequate resources are available for mandatory training for teachers of the deaf; [124467]

(3) what mechanisms are (a) in place and (b) planned, to monitor the amount and proportion of Standards Fund money allocated to support mandatory training for teachers of the deaf. [124468]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 5 June 2000]: Expenditure supported under the Standards Fund relating to training teachers and others in special educational needs over the last five years has been as follows.

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Year	£ million
1996-97	20
1997-98	17
1998-99	18
1999-00	21
2000-01	26

Note:

Total supported expenditure by English local education authorities, against which DfEE pays grant

The Standards Fund circular makes it clear to local education authorities that support is available for courses leading to mandatory qualifications but the actual decisions as to how the funding is deployed are made by individual LEAs according to local needs. A breakdown for the period in question is not available. As to monitoring of expenditure, LEAs are asked to report on the overall number of teachers and others trained with the benefit of Standards Fund support.

Teacher Recruitment

Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effect of the new financial arrangements on teacher recruitment in 2000-01; and if such arrangements will be available next year. [124510]

Ms Estelle Morris: Since the announcement of the new financial arrangements for teacher training, there have been 4,004 applications for courses of postgraduate initial teacher training, 27 per cent. more than in the same period last year.

Expenditure plans for 2001-02 and beyond are dependent on the outcome of the current Spending Review.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many school pupils suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome have statements of special educational needs. [124625]

Jacqui Smith: This information is not available. However, a medical diagnosis of Guillain Barre Syndrome would not necessarily imply that the child has special educational needs. For most children with this syndrome, education provision will be made in line with the Department's guidance on the education of sick children, through to recovery. Special Educational Needs provision would, of course, be made for any child with significant learning difficulties caused by relapsing Guillain Barre Syndrome.

Education Action Zones

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will place in the Library audited accounts of education action zones to date. [124662]

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Ms Estelle Morris: The Comptroller and Auditor General has so far placed audited financial accounts for the 1998-99 financial year in both Libraries of Parliament for 15 of the first round zones.

Primary Schools (Access)

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of the population lives (a) within one mile of and (b) over three miles from a primary school in (i) rural and (ii) urban areas. [124670]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 5 June 2000]: It is not possible to answer the question as there are no centrally held data available.

Performance Targets (Employment Service)

Ms Bridget Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what performance target levels will be set to ensure that the Employment Service achieves its aims and objectives in 2000-01. [124920]

Mr. Blunkett: The Aim of the Employment Service is to help people without jobs to find work and employers to fill their vacancies. The Service makes a major contribution to an efficient and flexible labour market and to the Government's objectives of high and stable employment and growth, equality of opportunity and social inclusion. Its chief priority is to help individuals facing particular difficulty in the labour market to move from welfare and economic inactivity into sustainable employment. During the coming year it will be taking forward an ambitious programme of technological change and business improvement and will be preparing for the merger with the Benefits Agency in 2001.

I am today announcing the targets I have set the Employment Service for 2000-01, which relate to its four key objectives.

Vision and Purpose

The Employment Service aims to make a major contribution to an efficient and flexible labour market and to the Government's objectives of high and stable employment and growth, equality of opportunity and social inclusion. ES works closely with employers and with its private, voluntary and public sector partners to provide a quality service for all people without a job and to promote employment opportunities for all who can work. It aims to attract a diverse range of vacancies and to fill those vacancies quickly by matching the right people and skills with the right jobs. Its chief priority is to help individuals facing particular difficulty in the labour market to move from welfare and economic inactivity into sustainable employment. It does this through correct application of the JSA regime, delivery of the New Deals and the pilot ONE service, and provision of appropriate information, advice, training and support. The Agency has achieved much over the past three years. The challenge and opportunity now facing it is to sustain continuous improvement in its services to jobseekers and employers and to make those services more accessible and relevant to customer needs, through effective use of modern technology and close working with a wide range of partners.

Aim

To help people without jobs to find work and employers to fill their vacancies.

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Objective A

To help all people without jobs, and particularly those on welfare and at a disadvantage in the labour market, to find and keep work by providing appropriate information, advice, training and support and by encouraging employers to open more opportunities to them.

Targets

1. To help 178,000 participants in the New Deals and all Employment Zones into work, directly or in partnership with others

2. To help 100,000 people with disabilities into work, directly or in partnership with others

3. To help 295,000 disadvantaged jobseekers into work, directly or in partnership with others

4. To help 735,000 people from welfare into work, directly or in partnership with others

5. To help 1,325,000 jobless people into work, directly or in partnership with others

Objective B

To ensure that the rights and relevant labour market responsibilities of people on JSA and other benefits are fulfilled, while helping to combat fraud and abuse of the benefit system.

Target

To ensure that the relevant labour market responsibilities of people on JSA are fulfilled in 90 per cent. of cases checked.

Objective C

To harness new technology, the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement to deliver effective, efficient and accessible services to all people without jobs and to employers in Jobcentres and, increasingly through other locations and means of communication.

Targets

1. To achieve a 90 per cent. customer service level for jobseekers

Milestone Targets

1. To introduce the Learning and Work Bank, new Labour Market System, touch-screen kiosks and a single national telephone number for employers by March 2001.

2. To achieve a successful transfer of Work Based Learning for Adults to ES in England by April 2001.

Objective D

To deliver services to all ES customers in a way which respects individual differences, helps to overcome disadvantages due to ethnicity, gender, age or disability and achieves the best possible outcome for each of them.

Two additional targets, for employer service and sustainable employment will be announced in July.

Target levels for the Employment Service in Scotland and Wales, derived from the national targets, will be announced shortly.

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