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Combined Standards Funds

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what progress he has made in combining the 49 standards funds into six blocks. [134396]

Ms Estelle Morris: As part of our reforms to make the Standards Fund simpler and more streamlined, from 2001-02 all Standards Fund allocations will be grouped in six categories: School Improvement, Inclusion, Standards and Curriculum, Diversity and Excellence, Teachers and Support, and Capital and Infrastructure. The

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new arrangements were set out for Local Education Authorities in guidance issued on 22 September.

Open University

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the funding of the Open University for the past three years. [134409]

Mr. Wicks: The following table shows the funding the Open University has received from the Higher Education Funding Council for England in each of the last three years.

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£

	United Kingdom		England, Wales and Northern Ireland	Scotland
HEFCE funding	1998-99	1999-2000	2000-01	2000-01
Total teaching	115,810,756	121,360,509	119,496,105	12,526,559
Total research	7,248,003	6,874,165	6,888,267	--
Special funding	541,734	--	300,000	235,300
Total resource	123,600,493	128,234,674	126,684,372	12,761,859

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The figures in the last year are not directly comparable to the earlier years. Responsibility for funding Open University students in Scotland now lies with the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and this funding is shown separately in the table.

Special Educational Needs

Mr. Rammell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is his policy with regard to intervention under section 497 of the Education Act 1996 where a local education authority does not specify hours of support in a statement of special educational needs. [134454]

Jacqui Smith: Although the Education Act 1996 requires a local education authority to specify the special educational provision for a child, it does not require a local education authority to detail that provision in terms of hours of support. Where parents disagree with the wording or provision set out in their child's statement of special educational needs, it is open for them to appeal to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal. Where parents have complaints about the delivery of their child's provision, they may ask the Secretary of State to intervene. He will consider what action is appropriate in each case.

Mr. Rammell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what recent representations he has received from national organisations about the extent to which Essex County Council complies with the SEN Code of Practice. [134455]

Jacqui Smith: The Secretary of State has received correspondence from the Independent Panel for Special Educational Advice (IPSEA) questioning the extent to which Essex County Council complies with the SEN Code of Practice. As with all such correspondence, officials are investigating the matter.

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Mr. Rammell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to what extent local education authorities are required to have regard to the SEN Code of Practice. [134456]

Jacqui Smith: Local education authorities are required by law to have regard to the SEN Code of Practice. The Code offers guidance to local education authorities on their responsibilities towards children with special educational needs, and they must not ignore it. Authorities must decide how to fulfil their statutory duties and responsibilities in the light of the Code.

Police Hotline

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will establish a system in which each school has access to a hotline to the police. [134521]

Jacqui Smith: DfEE worked closely with the police and the Home Office on the production of "School Security: Dealing With Troublemakers", which promotes close co-operation between schools and local police to create effective local partnerships. Specifically, it recommends that schools and the local police should ensure that arrangements for calling police help in an emergency have been properly communicated to staff, and are understood.

We know that local education authorities and schools have established links with their local police forces. If a hotline is needed in addition to existing practices, schools and local education authorities are best placed to discuss this with their local police forces.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) women and (b) members of ethnic minorities are employed by his Department. [134689]

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Mr. Wills: Details of the number of women and members of ethnic minorities employed by DfEE are as set out. The figures for permanent and temporary (casual) staff are shown separately.

Permanent staff

As at 1 October 2000 DfEE employed 4,849 permanent staff of whom:

2,693 (56 per cent.) were women and

491 (10 per cent.) were members of ethnic minorities

Temporary staff

As at 1 October 2000 DfEE employed 237 temporary staff of whom:

133 (56 per cent.) were women and

5 (2 per cent.) were members of ethnic minorities.

DfEE (in line with the Commission for Racial Equality guidelines) asks staff to voluntarily declare their ethnicity in order to monitor progress against its Equal Opportunities Action Plan. The figures reflect the position for those who have provided this information.

Circulars and Consultation Documents

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the cost was to his Department of the publication and distribution of circulars and consultation documents in (a) 1997-98 (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000. [134711]

Mr. Wills: Full information in the form requested is not available. Details of the costs of production of such materials are not specifically categorised as circulars or consultations by the Department and are therefore not collected centrally. Instead information on marketing and publicity products is recorded for each particular marketing campaign and broken down by the type of media employed to deliver the information.

Teacher Training

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the quality of teacher training in England and Wales. [134712]

Ms Estelle Morris: All initial teacher training (ITT) providers in England are subject to regular inspection of the quality of their provision by Ofsted. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) allocates funding to ITT providers, according to the quality of provision, based on Ofsted's judgments.

A new teacher training curriculum was introduced in England in 1998. The proportion of trainees in high quality primary ITT provision has increased from 56 per cent. in 1997 to 65 per cent. in 1999.

Teacher training in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Assembly.

Citizenship Classes

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his plans for citizenship classes. [134726]

Jacqui Smith: Citizenship education will be part of the National Curriculum for secondary schools from August 2002. It follows the recommendation of the all-party

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working party chaired by Prof. Bernard Crick and including Lord Baker in its membership. Citizenship is designed to improve the knowledge and understanding of our democracy among young people, to make them aware of their social and moral responsibilities and to encourage greater community involvement. We have made £12 million available to schools this year through the Standards Fund to assist them in their preparations for Citizenship. This will be sustained next year.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if his proposed citizenship classes will be subject to a requirement of political impartiality. [134925]

Jacqui Smith: Citizenship education will be subject to the same requirements of political impartiality as other areas of the curriculum. There are safeguards in law to guard against biased or unbalanced teaching. Local education authorities, governing bodies and head teachers are required under Section 407 of the Education Act 1996 to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to secure that where political issues are brought to the attention of pupils, they are offered a balanced presentation of opposing views. The introduction of citizenship was proposed by the Citizenship Education Working Party that included Lord Baker, the former education secretary.

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