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Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Pearson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he will reply substantively to the question from the hon. Member for Dudley, South (Ref. 122261). [126598]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 19 June 2000]: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 22 May 2000, Official Report, columns 332-33W.

Mr. Maclennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many parliamentary questions were tabled to his Department between the 19 October 1999 and the 20 April 2000 which requested information, pursuant to his previous answers. [127444]

Mr. Wills: Thirty questions were tabled to the Department between these dates requesting information pursuant to replies given to Parliamentary questions.

Student Support (Disregards)

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the disregard for bursaries and other payments for students against their assessment of income for the purpose of student support; and what plans he has to amend them. [126769]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 20 June 2000]: For the 2000-01 academic year, students can receive bursaries of up to £1,025 a year, plus any amount of other payments that are made for specific educational purposes, such as books and other equipment, before entitlement to support is affected. For most younger students other income of up to £840 a year is also disregarded. The sum disregarded is higher for most mature and independent students at £7,500 a year.

From 2001-02 we plan to change these arrangements to enable low-income students to retain in full the higher bursaries which some colleges are now intending to

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award, without losing any part of the support they receive for fees and the loan to which they are entitled. Further details will be announced in the Autumn.

Vocational Training

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will take steps to compensate students for the loss of tax relief on the costs of vocational training. [126807]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 21 June 2000]: The Government aim to widen participation in work-related learning by helping people overcome the financial barriers. New financial benefits for adult learners have been introduced through Individual Learning Accounts which will become available on learning starting from September. Individual Learning Accounts provide discounts of 20 per cent. on a wide range of work-related learning and discounts of 80 per cent. on a number of specified key courses in Information Technology and Maths. There is also a contribution of £150 towards the cost of learning for the first million people to use their Individual Learning Accounts. At the same time employers will receive tax relief on their contributions to their employees' learning costs and employees will not have to pay tax or national insurance on their employees' contributions.

Sure Start

Dr. Desmond Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the voluntary sector organisations involved in trailblazer Sure Start areas. [126878]

Yvette Cooper [holding answer 21 June 2000]: I have been asked to reply.

Eleven of the 60 trailblazers are led by voluntary organisations. A total of 51 voluntary organisations are members of local Sure Start partnerships. Several of these are members of more than one local partnership. The organisations are as follows:



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Class Sizes

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average class size was for classes taught by one teacher in (a) 1979 and (b) 1992, for (i) pupils in Key Stage 1, (ii) pupils in Key Stage 2, (iii) primary schools and (iv) secondary schools in each parliamentary constituency. [127211]

Ms Estelle Morris: The information is not held in the form requested. Information on class sizes by Parliamentary constituency is only available from 1996 onwards. Class size figures by key stage in maintained primary schools have only been collected since 1996.

Information on class sizes by Parliamentary constituency for January 2000 has been placed in the Library.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children have been turned down for their first choice of school, as a result of the limit on infant class sizes set out in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, who (a) have applied for a place at a denominational school, (b) have a sibling in that school, (c) are new to the area and (d) are in any other category. [127487]

Ms Estelle Morris: The Department does not hold this information. The admissions framework we have established aims to ensure that local admission arrangements accommodate parental preference wherever possible, but there have always been cases where this cannot be met. Our infant class size initiative, which is being pursued in such a way that popular schools are able to expand, enables more parents to obtain a place for their

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child at their preferred school. A net gain of 12,000 places at popular schools is being provided as a result of the policy.

We are well on course to deliver our pledge to limit infant classes to 30 pupils. £620 million is available to support the pledge, and allocations so far to Trafford LEA amount to some £2 million. This has helped to reduce the size of the average Key Stage 1 class in the Altrincham and Sale, West parliamentary constituency to 25.9. The figure in January 1997 was 29.6.

Correspondence

Sir Brian Mawhinney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when the right hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire will receive a reply to his letter of 11 May on behalf of his constituent Mrs. Morgan. [127371]

Mr. Wills: A reply to the right hon. Member's letter was issued on 21 June.

Agricultural Wages Board

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations he has received in favour of retaining the Agricultural Wages Board; and if he will make a statement. [127070]

Ms Quin: I have been asked to reply.

I refer to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr. Sawford) on 12 June 2000, Official Report, column 456W.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Sex Offenders

Miss Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners subject to the provisions of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 have been released on the Home Detention Curfew Scheme to date; what offences they committed; what was the sentence (a) received and (b) served in each case; and if he will make a statement. [117718]

Mr. Straw [pursuant to his reply, 6 April 2000, c. 599-600W]: I stated that as of 3 April 2000, only one prisoner subject to the provisions of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 had been granted Home Detention Curfew. I was recently informed on 20 June that a second sex offender subject to the 1997 Act has been placed on the scheme.

The offender--a female aged 18 with no previous convictions--was convicted of indecent assault against a 14-year-old, and was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. She was considered as a candidate for Home Detention Curfew in view of the exceptional circumstance that she was imminently due to give birth. She had a suitable address with her mother and was judged at an enhanced risk assessment board to pose a low risk of reoffending. She was placed on the scheme on 5 August 1999 until her conditional release date of 30 August. She successfully completed the curfew and is not known to have been arrested, charged or convicted of any further offence since.

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Under existing arrangements, sex offenders subject to the 1997 Act may be released only in exceptional circumstances and then only with the personal authorisation of the Director General of the Prison Service. In this case, as in the other case previously notified, I regret that this requirement was not followed by the establishment. Although I am satisfied in this particular case that there was no risk to the public, I have asked the Director General for a report into the circumstances of the release.

The original Prison Service Instruction which set out the Home Detention Curfew policy and procedures did not contain the requirement to seek the Director General's consent. Establishments were first informed of the requirement just before the scheme commenced, in a letter of 26 January 1999 from the then Director of Regimes. In October 1999, the Director General wrote to remind all establishments of the requirement, and in January 2000 a consolidated Prison Service Order which incorporated and highlighted the requirement.

In both these cases, the releases occurred last August, before the Director General's letter of reminder and the consolidated Prison Service Order. No sex offenders subject to the 1997 Act have been placed on the Home Detention Curfew scheme since, and I am confident that all establishments are now fully aware of the requirement to seek the consent of the Director General before allowing any such offender onto the scheme.

Under the amendment to the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill, which the Government brought forward on 12 June 2000, sex offenders subject to the Sex Offenders Act 1997 will be excluded from the Home Detention Curfew scheme altogether.

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