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Child Care
Mr. Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many new child care places were created in (a) Wandsworth and (b) the constituency of Battersea between 2 May 1997 and April 2001; and if he will make a statement. [156769]
Ms Hodge: Between May 1997 and March 1999, the National Childcare Strategy created 9,784 childcare places in the London region. Since April 1999 local Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships have provided details of the new childcare places that have opened by local education authority and constituency. Between April 1999 and December 2000 two Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships have reported new childcare places in the constituency of Battersea. Wandsworth Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership have reported the creation of 411 new out of school hours childcare places in the borough of Wandsworth and 124 of these are in the constituency of Battersea.
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Lambeth Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership reported the creation of 2,648 new childcare places between April 1999 and December 2000, of which 24 places were on the border of the constituency and fall within Battersea.
Since September 1998, all four-year-olds in Wandsworth have been entitled to receive a free, part time, early education place. This entitlement is also available for all three year olds in Wandsworth. From 1999 to 2001, Wandsworth received a total of £2,850,000 to fund 3,172 early education places for three year olds. In 2001-02, Wandsworth LEA have been allocated additional funding of £2,050,488 to provide places for 1,726 three year olds. This is in addition to the places that the authority will make available through their own resources (including Standard Spending Assessment).
Work Permits (IT)
Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many work permits for entrants to the UK were granted in (a) 1996, (b) 1997, (c) 1998, (d) 1999 and (e) 2000 to information technology and e-commerce specialists from countries outside the European Union. [157694]
Ms Hodge: The number of foreign nationals granted permission, through work permit arrangements, to undertake information technology related jobs during 2000 was 18,257. Comparable figures for 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 are not available as the way in which work permit management information is collected was changed in October 1999.
Employment (Asian Women)
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to increase participation in the labour market of British Asian women; and if he will make a statement. [157773]
Ms Jowell: The Government have a range of initiatives to increase job opportunities for groups such as British Asian women who traditionally suffer disadvantage in the labour market. In particular, three major initiatives--New Deal, Action Teams and Employment Zones--are taking steps, including outreach work in local communities, to overcome the specific barriers that stop Asian women from moving into work.
Education Achievement Awards
Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the success of the education achievement awards; and if he will make a statement. [157776]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 10 April 2001]: School Achievement Awards are for schools that have substantially improved their results since 1997 or achieved better results last year than other schools in similar circumstances. They are a very effective way of recognising those achievements and enabling schools to reward whole staff teams. The very regrettable error affecting a minority of the schools involved should not detract from that.
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Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what appeals procedure is available to schools that feel unfairly excluded appeals from the list of those regarded as eligible for an achievement award. [157777]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 10 April 2001]: The Department has telephone and e-mail helplines for School Achievement Awards inquiries that are available to all schools. Every school that asks why it did not win an award is being told the specific reason. We will ensure that every school that qualifies for an award receives one.
Teachers' Working Hours
Mr. Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what discussions he has had with teacher unions about resolving the dispute over working hours; and if he will make a statement. [157778]
Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 10 April 2001]: My right hon. Friend will hold discussions with the teacher unions about a review of teacher workload when they have all suspended industrial action. At that point, he will be prepared to hold discussions about the proposed remit and timetable for the review which was recommended by the independent School Teachers' Review Body.
Schools (Battersea)
Mr. Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what funding has been made
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available for improving school buildings under the New Deal for Schools in the Battersea parliamentary constituency since 1 May 1997; and if he will list the improvements concerned. [157804]
Jacqui Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to his previous question, on 6 April 2001, Official Report, column 310W.
Information showing the schools in the Battersea constituency that benefited from investment under New Deal for Schools is shown in table A. These allocations formed part of the £4.651 million investment made so far in schools in the London borough of Wandsworth local education authority under the New Deal for Schools programme.
In total, since 1997, the London borough of Wandsworth local education authority has received some £13.214 million of funding for capital investment in school buildings as shown in Table B.
Nationally, investment in school buildings has tripled from £683 million a year in 1996-97 to over £2 billion in 2000-01. It will be £3.5 billion in 2003-04, including grant, credit approvals and Private Finance Initiative credits. There will be central Government investment of £8.5 billion in school buildings in total from 2001-02 to 2003-04. Capital investment already allocated to the London Borough of Wandsworth local education authority in 2001-02, including the increases announced by the Chancellor in the Budget statement of 7 March, amounts to £5.942 million.
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| School | Project | Grant awarded (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997-98 | ||
| Alderbrook Primary | Replace gas heater | (48)135,000 |
| Joseph Tritton Primary | Provide a secure main entrance with CCTV | |
| 1998-99 | ||
| Chesterton (with Chantfield) Primary | Replacement of three asbestos clad huts | 123,338 |
| St. George's C of E Primary (VA) | Renew heating pipework system | 73,840 |
| Joseph Tritton Primary | Major works to corroded boundary wall | 57,477 |
| Honeywell Infant | Demolition of old dining hall and outside toilets and replacement with new facilities | 194,419 |
| Honeywell Junior | Demolition and replacement of old dining hall and outside toilets with new facilities | 196,299 |
| Borough wide package of 22 schools | Safety of chimneys/flue renewals | (49)379,500 |
| 1999-2000 | ||
| Included within a 12 school package: | ||
| Belleville Primary | ||
| High View Primary | Renewal of mechanical and electrical services | (49)1,015,500 |
| The Vines | ||
| Wix Primary | ||
| Included within eight school package: | ||
| Chesterton Community College | Asbestos removal | (49)157,886 |
| 2000-01 | ||
| Included within a 12 school package: | ||
| Allfarthing Primary | ||
| Battersea Technology College | Renewal of roof and associated drainage works | (49)1,621,017 |
| Bolingbroke Primary | ||
| John Burns Primary | ||
| Chesterton Primary | Replacement of temporary classrooms | 234,240 |
(48) Local education authorities (LEAs) were not required to specify individual project costs for phase 1 of the NDS programme, so the amount shown is the total allocation in that year to the LEA. London borough of Wandsworth local education authority holds project level information.
(49) Denotes total allocation made to package projects covering more than one school. London borough of Wandsworth local education authority will be able to advise the value of projects at schools which have benefited from these allocations.
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23 Apr 2001 : Column: 105W
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