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Citizenship Studies

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will define those elements of citizenship studies which are affected by the new international dimension to the national curriculum; and if he will make a statement. [124748]

Jacqui Smith: International issues are currently covered in a number of National Curriculum subjects, such as Geography and History. From September 2002, when Citizenship will become statutory in secondary schools, pupils aged 11-14 will be taught about the world as a global community, and the political, economic, environmental and social implications of this, and the role of the European Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations, and pupils aged 14-16 will cover the opportunities for individuals and voluntary bodies to bring about social change in Europe and internationally; the United Kingdom's relations in Europe, including the European Union, and relations with the Commonwealth and the United Nations, and the wider issues and challenges of global interdependence and responsibility.

Special Advisers

Mr. Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on how many occasions since 31 March 1999 (a) departmental and (b) non-departmental special advisers have travelled abroad in an official capacity. [124127]

Mr. Blunkett [holding answer 5 June 2000]: During the period 31 March 1999 to 31 March 2000, special advisers in this Department travelled overseas on two occasions. All travel complied with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

Teachers and Lecturers (Salaries)

Mrs. Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the starting salary for (a) a newly qualified teacher and (b) a further education college lecturer in England. [124171]

Ms Estelle Morris: A newly qualified teacher with a second class honours degree or above starts at £16,050 pa; others start at £15,141 pa. If they work in London they also receive London allowances ranging

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from £591 pa to £2,316 pa. All schools can make additional payments to teachers to address recruitment and retention difficulties. From 1 September 2000 these allowances will range from £909 pa to £3,765 pa.

It is for each college in the further education sector to decide the salary of its staff. The Sixth Form Colleges' Employers' Forum recommend a minimum starting salary of £15,412 for teachers in Sixth Form Colleges who have a second class honours degree or better.

Mrs. Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the maximum pay for (a) a qualified teacher in England and (b) a further education college lecturer, on average, in England. [124172]

Ms Estelle Morris: The pay reforms that we are introducing from 1 September introduce two pay ranges for teachers. The maximum that a classroom teacher can earn purely by incremental progression is £23,958 pa. However, they will then be able to apply for "threshold assessment" and if successful will move to an upper pay range which starts at £25,959. They will have the prospect of moving through four further points, subject to strong performance, to a maximum of £30,018 pa. Classroom teachers may also receive other payments on top of their basic pay. These include: London allowances ranging from £591 pa to £2,316 pa; recruitment and retention allowances ranging from £909 pa to £3,765 pa; management allowances ranging from £1,485 pa to £9,573 pa; and special educational needs allowances ranging from £1,515 pa to £3,000 pa.

It is for each college in the further education sector to decide the salary of its staff. Statistics on average salaries of further education staff are not held centrally.

Primary Pupils (Spending)

Mr. Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 9 November 1999, Official Report, column 525W, on primary school pupils, when he will write to the hon. Member for South Derbyshire. [124428]

Ms Estelle Morris: The figures required to enable me to reply to my hon. Friend's earlier question are expected to become available shortly. I shall write to him and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

Online Computer Training Initiative

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how the UK online Computer Training initiative will be evaluated; if there will be a control group; and if he will make a statement. [124663]

Mr. Wills: The UK online Computer Training initiative will be evaluated firstly by collecting data for a monthly management information report. This will be available from the beginning of August. Further and more detailed reports will be produced in September. The longer-term evaluation of the initiative will be carried out in April 2001. Evaluation will track individual clients to see how the course has altered their chances of employability. We are interested to find out how provision like this can make a change for people who may be at risk of missing out on the benefits of ICT skills in the modern work place.

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The control group for this initiative will be drawn from people who have not attended the course and will allow us to make a direct comparison between people who have attended the course and those who have not.

Once we have established what the scheme has achieved I will make a statement as to how we can apply the lessons we have learned.

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people he estimates will participate in the UK online Computer Training initiative. [124664]

Mr. Wills: Government Offices for the regions have contracted for 50,000 courses to be offered in England under UK online Computer Training. Clients will be directed to courses via the learndirect service. Demand for the courses has been very high: Learndirect received their hundred-thousandth inquiry about this scheme on 6 June 2000. While we anticipate that 50,000 people will benefit directly from the training, we believe that the advertising that supports the scheme will lead people into other courses as well. We will evaluate the benefit to other schemes of the advertising campaign for the UK online Computer Training initiative.

Mr. Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how long the UK online Computer Training initiative will operate. [124665]

Mr. Wills: UK online Computer Training is a one year initiative and is due to complete in March 2001. The future of the initiative will be decided once reliable management information becomes available and a sound evaluation has been carried out. It is still very early in the life of this initiative, although early indications are very favourable.

School Science Laboratories

Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures his Department has implemented to update school science laboratory facilities. [124796]

Jacqui Smith: Under the New Deal for Schools programme, 151 projects for improving science laboratories have been funded at a cost of just under £37 million. A further £60 million is being allocated from the Capital Modernisation Fund to tackle deficiencies in school science over the next two years. This will enable around 400 more improvement projects to be implemented at those schools most in need.

Staff Secondments

Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 21 December 1999, Official Report, column 554W, concerning secondments, which of the secondees listed were appointed for a period of 12 months or less. [124817]

Mr. Wills [holding answer 7 June 2000]: All of the secondments listed were for a period of 12 months or less, with the exception of the secondment from Glaxo Wellcome which lasted for a period of 14 months.

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Computers for Teachers Scheme

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what assessment he has made of the efficiency of the system for reimbursing teachers under the Computers for Teachers Scheme; and if he will make a statement; [122769]

(2) what estimate he has made of the average time between the purchase of equipment under the Computers for Teachers Scheme and reimbursement. [122770]

Mr. Wills: The Computers for Teachers Initiative was launched on 12 January 2000. It offers a £500 subsidy towards the purchase of a computer for serving teachers and is free of tax. It has proved very popular with teachers and 18,000 applications have been received. The first phase of the scheme was closed on 30 April, with a deadline for receipt of applications of 5 June. 2,470 teachers have already received their reimbursement. The average time between application and reimbursement is about eight weeks, mainly due to incomplete forms in around half of the applications received, which then need to be followed up. Where a form is properly completed, the subsidy can normally be paid more quickly. Additional staff and telephone lines, as well as a dedicated website, were provided to deal with the volume of interest.

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