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Departmental Name Change
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost has been to public funds of re-branding her Department to accommodate its name change following the last general election. [14435]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 11 July 2001, Official Report, column 554w.
Local Government Finance
Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the amount of each item of funding outside the revenue support grant which her Department has made available to (a) Telford and the Wrekin council and (b) Shropshire county council in 2001–02 to date. [14475]
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Mr. Timms: The tables show the Department's allocated grants to Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire local education authorities in 2001–02.
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Standards Fund Grant | 4,523,820 |
| Teachers Pay Reform Grant | 1,122,193 |
| Nursery Education Grant (3-year-olds) | 1,700,000 |
| Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership Grant | 575,952 |
| School Standards Grant | 2,313,000 |
| Education Budget Support Grant | 310,000 |
| Capital | 7,810,000 |
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Standards Fund Grant | 6,164,397 |
| Teachers Pay Reform Grant | 1,798,619 |
| Nursery Education Grant (3 Year Olds) | 888,000 |
| Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership Grant | 766,232 |
| School Standards Grant | 3,588,000 |
| Education Budget Support Grant | 100,000 |
| Capital | 7,353,000 |
Key Stage 2 (Cheating)
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions she has had with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority with respect to their procedures relating to allegations of cheating in Key Stage 2. [14502]
Mr. Timms: I have received a report on incidents of malpractice in this year's National Curriculum Assessment Tests and their outcomes. I am pleased to note that the majority of reported incidents were minor, with 24 being sufficiently serious to warrant the schools' results being adjusted. Of these, two were whole school
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annulments, seven were partial annulments in one or more subjects and 15 were cases where individual pupils results were adjusted.
Student Finance
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons student loans are provided at a lower than commercial rate of interest. [14535]
Margaret Hodge: The costs of higher education are shared between the state, parents and graduates, given the clear evidence that the graduates benefit financially from their higher education. Student loans are provided at a zero real rate of interest as part of the Government's contribution to the costs of higher education.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual (a) subsistence and (b) study costs were of taking a degree at (i) Oxford, (ii) Cambridge, (iii) London and (iv) other English universities in the most recent year for which figures are available. [14536]
Margaret Hodge: The Department's latest student income and expenditure survey of a representative sample of higher education students shows the following figures for students' reported expenditure in the academic year 1998–99:
| £ | ||
|---|---|---|
| London | Other England | |
| Living costs(4) | 4,109 | 4,094 |
| Accommodation costs(5) | 1,534 | 1,279 |
| Participation costs(6) | 824 | 780 |
| Expenditure on children | 65 | 48 |
(4) Includes food, household goods, personal items such as toiletries, clothes and tobacco, entertainment including alcohol, non-course related travel and other general expenditure.
(5) Includes rent, mortgage, retainer fee paid over the vacation, council tax, household insurance and utility bills.
(6) Includes students' personal contribution to fees, books, equipment and stationery, travel to and from college and childcare costs.
Source:
Changing student finances: income, expenditure and the take-up of student loans among full- and part-time higher education students in 1998–99, by Claire Callender and Martin Kemp, DfEE Research report 213, December 2000
Figures are not available for Cambridge and Oxford universities separately from 'Other England'. Cambridge university was not among the institutions selected to take part in the survey, and the sample of students at Oxford university was too small to provide reliable data.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will publish the Student Funding review. [14532]
Margaret Hodge: The outcome of the Student Funding review will be announced next year. We will be consulting on proposals for change before any decisions are made.
Terrorism
Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance has been issued by
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her Department to (a) local education authorities and (b) teachers in respect of discussion of (i) the global campaign against terrorism and (ii) the use of military force in Afghanistan. [14687]
Mr. Timms: Guidance was recently made available to local authorities and local education authorities relating to the events of September 11 and the subsequent conflict. It can be accessed from the home page of the DfES website and on Teachernet. The guidance does not specifically inform teachers how to address discussion of the global campaign and the use of military force in Afghanistan. Its purpose is to help teachers allay the fears of pupils and to offer examples of good practice to ensure the emotional and physical well being of both pupils and staff. It recognises that schools have done a great deal already and that heads and teachers have the professionalism and expertise to deal with issues as they arise. It reminds them of existing sources of help and encourages a local response and co-operation with local agencies. The guidance is work-in-progress and will be regularly updated in response to comments received and changing circumstances.
Freedom of Information Act
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on what date her Department established a working group of officials to prepare her Department for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and on what dates this committee has met since it was set up. [14766]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department's strategy paper for implementation of the Freedom of Information Act includes provision for a forum of officials to help in formulating policy and guidance especially involving their own areas of work. The intention is to establish the forum early in the new year.
In the meantime, the Department has been active in preparing for implementation by developing and commencing a training and awareness programme, setting up a dedicated intranet site, alerting our non-departmental public bodies to their legal responsibilities, and holding discussions with key stakeholders on the development of the publication scheme.
Individual Learning Accounts
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish the correspondence she received from training providers offering views on the pilot programmes of individual learning accounts. [14581]
John Healey [holding answer 13 November 2001]: No. The Department only publishes correspondence if it has invited stakeholders to specifically write or feed back on an issue and that the information supplied will be placed in the public domain. Correspondents with the Department would not expect to see the contents of their correspondence published, except in these circumstances. Such a process was not undertaken in 1998, 1999 or 2000 prior to the national framework, nor in relation to the pilot or development work.
Any relevant material will be made public through the forthcoming Public Accounts Committee hearing on ILAs.
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Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice she has received from the police in the last three months on the extent of fraud in connection with individual learning accounts. [14582]
John Healey [holding answer 13 October 2001]: My Department has received no direct advice from the police on the extent of fraud in connection with ILAs. At the end of October, the police were carrying out formal investigations into four learning providers (although only three of these have claimed funds from the Department) and are making preliminary inquiries into a fifth learning provider.
My Department's special investigations unit is currently conducting enquiries into a further nine learning providers which may potentially become police cases and will be considering, with the police, any lessons learned.
Mr. Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the number of jobs that will be lost as a result of the suspension of the individual learning accounts programme from 7 December, in England. [12394]
John Healey: I appreciate the business concerns expressed by some learning providers. However, we have given more than six weeks' notice of the suspension of the ILA programme. Eligible learning from existing ILA holders booked in advance with the ILA Centre by 7 December will attract the discounts from the scheme and that learning can start within a period of up to six months later. This will give learning providers a period of time in which to adjust their business plans.
Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what level of fraud involving individual learning accounts has been detected in the London borough of Sutton. [12525]
John Healey: Complaints received from individuals about alleged fraudulent activities are not recorded by geographical area.
Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 30 October 2001, Official Report, column 618W, on Individual Learning Accounts, when she first received complaints from individuals alleging that providers had claimed individual learning account incentives without their knowledge. [12289]
John Healey [holding answer 2 November 2001]: The first ILA provider to have been suspended because of a number of such complaints was on 25 June 2001. On 11 June 2001 the Department received the first letter in relation to this particular case, about incentives claimed without the knowledge of the account holder. From July of this year the Department received an increasing number of similar complaints from individuals and local Trading Standards Officers.
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make it her policy to provide funding to support the programmes of
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community-based learning providers where these are affected by the decision to suspend individual learning accounts. [13245]
John Healey [holding answer 14 November 2001]: We have supported five community-based ILA pilot projects of which two were in Liverpool and one each in Sheffield, London, and Kent. These were originally due to end in June but were extended to end on 28 December 2001.
We have given more than six weeks notice of the suspension of the ILA programme. Eligible learning booked by existing ILA holders with the ILA Centre by 7 December will attract the discounts from the scheme as long as the start date of the learning is within six months of the registration. It is likely that the impact on the pilots of the decision to suspend ILAs will be small but officials are meeting with the local providers concerned.
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions she has had with representatives of community-based learning providers in respect of the impact on their provision of the suspension of individual learning accounts. [13246]
John Healey [holding answer 14 November 2001]: During the recent debate in the House on 6 November 2001, I said I would look into the effect on some organisations of the withdrawal of the ILA programme. My officials are now arranging meetings with those most affected.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no discussions with representatives of community-based learning providers although officials met the five community based organisations who are running ILA pilots yesterday.
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