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Special Educational Needs
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to his answer of 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 711W, on special educational needs, what written responses she has received since 23 October about the further revision of the draft SEN code document. [12967]
Mr. Timms: The Secretary of State has received a letter dated 29 October from the organisation Spearhead (Special Education at Home).
The Department has also received two letters from hon. Members, both dated 26 October, enclosing correspondence from constituents which appears to refer to the earlier draft of the Code placed before Parliament in June, rather than the latest version.
Fast Food and Drinks
Mrs. Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on her policy on the provision of fast food and drinks machines in school corridors. [12999]
Mr. Timms: It is for local education authorities and schools in England to determine whether or not there should be any provision for fast food and drinks machines in school corridors.
Publications (Charges)
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the publications provided by her Department and the National Centre for Literacy and Numeracy where charges will be levied on schools for the making of (a) overhead transparencies and (b) enlarged copies; and if she will state the level of income received from schools as a result. [13020]
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Mr. Timms: The licensing for the copying of extracts from published texts is the responsibility of the Copyright Licensing Agency. The new licence for schools, which took effect from April 2001, automatically includes permission to make overhead transparencies and enlarged copies. There is no requirement for schools to make any separate payment for this or to report such copying.
Publications produced by the National Centre for Literacy and Numeracy on behalf of the Department may be copied free of charge by schools.
Secondary Schools (Norfolk)
Mrs. Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which secondary schools in Norfolk had unfilled teacher posts at the latest available date. [13239]
Mr. Timms: This information is not collected centrally.
Mrs. Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which secondary schools in Norfolk had no spare capacity to admit new pupils at the latest available date. [13240]
Mr. Timms: My Department does not collect detailed information on this. It is for local education authorities to plan and keep under review the supply of school places and to ensure that there are sufficient school places. Each year LEAs must publish a School Organisation Plan which sets out how they plan to deal with any surplus or deficit of school places over a rolling five year period.
Where an LEA can demonstrate overall growth in the need for places it may apply to the Department for capital funding.
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Pupils (Assaults)
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the cases of (a) state primary and (b) state secondary school teachers who have been (i) suspended and (ii) convicted for assault on pupils since the abolition of corporal punishment. [13397]
Mr. Timms: The Department does not collect this information.
Schools Reorganisation (Merton)
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on progress by the schools reorganisation programme in the London borough of Merton towards its completion date of September 2002. [R] [12748]
Mr. Timms: The responsibility for the implementation of statutory proposals for school reorganisation rests with local education authorities. Merton local education authority is implementing the reorganisation of schools in the borough from a three to a two-tier system in stages over the academic years 2001–02 to 2003–04, with the new structure effectively in place from September 2002. Officials of the Department are providing support as necessary to the school reorganisation programme and, as recently as 5 November, had a meeting with Merton officers to discuss progress.
Funding (Music)
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria her Department uses to allocate varying levels of support from the Music Standards Fund to local education authorities. [12779]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 6 November 2001]: Music Standards Fund allocations in the current financial year are largely based on the levels established in 2000–01. This is to honour our formal commitment to ensuring that no LEA would receive less money through the Music Standards Fund in 2001–02 than in 2000–01. We also pledged to ensure that no LEA would be required to increase the level of its own match-funded contribution in 2001–02.
The original MSF formula (from which this year's allocations are drawn) was introduced in the second year of the Music Standards Fund. It is made up of three main parts:
- an allocation based on each LEA's section 122 return which was intended to protect music services at pre-Music Standards Fund levels,
- an allocation based on bids made by individual LEAs in 1999–2000 for expanding their existing music services,
- an allocation based on our assessment of the need in each authority. 'Need' in this context was assessed in terms of the number of pupils in each authority, weighted to take account of socio-economic indicators for deprivation.
Mr. Timms [holding answer 6 November 2001]: In general, the Music Standards Fund grant is match-funded. For some LEAs support is provided at 100 per cent. and
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no match-funding is required. Where match-funding is required the LEAs need to make a contribution if they are to receive DfES grant.
All LEAs required to do so have agreed to make their contributions and so they, together with those funded at 100 per cent., will receive the full grant.
LEAs may retain any grant that remains unspent at the end of the year.
School Provision (Hackney)
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions her Department has had with the Commission for Racial Equality, with regard to the trust which is to run schools in Hackney. [12785]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 6 November 2001]: None on this matter, but there is of course regular communication between my Department and the Commission for Racial Equality across the range of education policy issues.
Skills Councils
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which organisations her Department has identified to be approached as possible trailblazer sector skills councils; and what discussions her Department has held with each organisation. [12619]
John Healey: The Department has not approached any organisations about becoming a trailblazer sector skills council. Officials discussed this and other aspects of the sector skills council policy informally with organisations that contacted the Department. These meetings were without commitment by either party. On 2 November I wrote to national training organisations and trade associations inviting them to consider whether they would be interested and able to meet the rigorous requirements for becoming a trailblazer.
Further Education (Lecturers)
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to bring further education lecturers' pay into line with that of teachers; and if she will make a statement. [12964]
John Healey: It is for each college to agree annual pay rises and conditions of employment with its staff in the context of the overall resources available to them. We are, however, aware of the funding gap between schools and FE and have pledged to bring up levels of funding and allow upwards convergence over time.
This year alone, an additional £527 million is available for FE, a 12 per cent. real terms increase on last year. Funding will increase again next year by a further 3 per cent. This compares with the period between 1993–94 and 1996–97 when FE funding per FTE student fell by 12 per cent. in real terms.
As part of the planned increases, we are investing more than £300 million in the Teaching Pay Initiative during the next three years to allow colleges, including sixth form colleges, to reward high quality teaching. This is separate from any general pay rise a teacher may receive.
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Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to discourage the practice of employing lecturers on a part-time basis in further education colleges; and if she will make a statement. [12965]
John Healey: None. The recruitment and terms and conditions of staff in general further education and sixth form colleges are matters for college corporations and management to determine in consultation with the relevant unions.
It is only right that colleges have the flexibility to determine the number of full-time and part-time staff they employ in line with local needs and circumstances.
Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research she has evaluated into the effects of part-time lecturers' employment on support offered to students at further education colleges; and if she will make a statement. [12963]
John Healey: Approximately two thirds of college lecturers work part-time. The Further Education National Training Organisation report "An analysis of the part-time lecturing staff in further education colleges in England and Wales (July 2000)" states that 25 per cent. of part- time staff offer extra-curricular assistance to students. In his last report, for 1999–2000, the Further Education Funding Council's Chief Inspector reported that 66 per cent. of colleges have good or outstanding support for students in place. He went on to say that "this aspect of cross-college provision continues to attract a higher proportion of grades 1 and 2 than any other". From the available evidence, colleges in general continue to provide effective student support while employing staff on both part-time and full-time contracts.
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