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School Children (Statistics)

Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children there were in each school year in England in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [17385]

Mr. Timms: Information on the number of pupils in each year group is not collected centrally. Information on the age of pupils in schools is shown in the table.

Headcount of pupils in schools⁽⁶⁾ in England

	January
	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997
Aged under 2	3,883	3,295	2,832	2,433	2,353
2 years old	50,520	52,355	49,417	46,420	45,605
3 years old	326,828	324,541	326,164	327,582	316,008
4 years old	593,262	600,166	615,016	614,141	626,985
5 years old	613,863	628,723	628,864	652,330	656,607
6 years old	629,072	629,471	652,865	657,275	650,485
7 years old	630,628	653,860	658,063	650,305	640,571
8 years old	654,553	658,754	651,415	641,342	649,377
9 years old	659,642	652,153	642,157	649,990	630,204
10 years old	653,452	643,546	650,710	630,884	616,153
11 years old	643,368	650,688	630,812	616,283	613,457
12 years old	651,947	631,726	617,418	613,980	591,230
13 years old	632,577	618,386	614,612	591,595	592,799
14 years old	618,397	614,564	591,640	592,154	587,290
15 years old	605,344	581,902	581,256	575,766	587,114
16 years old	212,121	211,535	207,127	210,403	210,035
17 years old	172,282	167,541	167,622	166,169	158,458
18 years old	19,254	19,573	19,492	18,593	17,272
19 years old	3,126	3,036	2,994	2,937	2,961
Total all ages	8,374,119	8,345,815	8,310,476	8,260,582	8,194,964

⁽⁶⁾ Includes maintained and independent schools

School Grants (Shropshire)

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what are the total grants made by her Department in 2001–02 to date to schools administered by (a) Telford and Wrekin council and (b) Shropshire county council. [17434]

Mr. Timms: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 15 November 2001, Official Report, columns 861–62W.

Bullying

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proposals she plans to introduce to combat bullying in post-16 education. [17443]

Mr. Timms: Schools are required by law to have anti-bullying policies covering all their pupils, and in December 2000 we launched a new anti-bullying pack for schools entitled "Bullying: don't suffer in silence" with an accompanying video aimed at pupils.

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for the remaining post-16 learning other than in higher education. I have therefore asked John Harwood, the Council's Chief Executive, to write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and to place a copy of his reply in the Library.

Following the tragic events of 11 September and subsequently we have placed some new guidance for all educational establishments on our departmental website. This reminds establishments to be vigilant for any name calling, racial abuse or bullying and deal with any incidents promptly and sensitively. A copy of the guidance has been sent to the LSC.

A-levels

Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what information she has collated on the length of time it is taking to re-mark A-levels on appeal; and if she will make a statement. [17913]

27 Nov 2001 : Column: 781W

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Information on the length of time it is taking to re-mark A-levels on appeal for 2001 is not yet available because the 'Enquiry about Results' and appeals process is incomplete. The information will be published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) at the end of March 2002.

School Exclusions

Mr. Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice she gives to local authorities on acceptable time limits for pupils to spend out of school following permanent exclusion for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools; what information she has by local authority on (i) numbers and (ii) length of exclusion in the latest year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [17914]

Mr. Timms: The advice given to local education authorities is that ideally many permanently excluded pupils should rejoin a mainstream or special school within days or weeks, or exclusion. Rapid re-integration is particularly important for excluded primary pupils and I expect that most of them would be re-integrated within one term. Conversely, for pupils approaching the end of compulsory schooling, a return to school may be unrealistic.

Reintegration Panels are responsible for co-ordinating services for excluded pupils. They must draw up an individual re-integration plan for each excluded child. This plan should be in place within a month of the governors upholding the exclusion and it is reviewed on a monthly basis. It should include a target date for return to school, once the school to which the child will return has been identified.

The latest figures available on permanent exclusions in England for 1999–2000 were published in a Statistical First Release on 19 July. A break down by local authority is available on the Department's website at www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/SFR/s0275/index.html. The Department does not collect data on the length of time between a pupil's permanent exclusion and their subsequent return to full time education.

Drugs (Disciplinary Guidance)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to issue revised guidance to schools and local education authorities regarding disciplinary arrangements for pupils found (a) in possession of, (b) dealing in and (c) under the influence of illegal drugs. [18364]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: We plan to issue revised guidance on the use of exclusion by schools early in the new year. The guidance will restate the right of head teachers to exclude permanently when necessary students involved in drug misuse and other drug related incidents.

Key Stage Test Results

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects her Department's inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the release of the 2001 Key Stage results to conclude; and if she will publish the report. [18526]

27 Nov 2001 : Column: 782W

Mr. Timms: I expect the inquiry to make a preliminary report before Christmas. A statement will be made as soon as possible thereafter. The National Statistician will comment more generally on the operation of statistical release practices across Government in his National Statistics Annual Report 2001/02 next summer.

Local Education Authority Performance

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what options her Department can take in respect of a local education authority which does not address problems highlighted by Ofsted to her satisfaction. [17956]

Mr. Timms: Where she judges that an LEA is failing or lacks the capacity to take the necessary measures to improve its performance, the Secretary of State has a range of options depending on the nature of the failings identified and on local circumstances. To date, these have included full or partial outsourcing of LEA services, private sector management delivery and non-outsourcing solutions, usually based on the re-structuring of internal strategic management, partnerships with other LEAs and/or structured arrangements for involving elected members, local stakeholders and independent expertise, as in partnership boards.

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether her Department has been approached by Torbay Unitary Authority for support following the Ofsted report into the performance of Torbay Local Education Authority; and if she will make a statement. [17958]

Mr. Timms: My Department has not been approached by Torbay Unitary Authority since the publication of the Ofsted report on the LEA. The Authority is preparing its Post-Inspection Action Plan, which will be submitted to my Department by 15 January 2002.

Online Centres (Norfolk)

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the applicants were for Phase 3 Capital Modernisation Fund funding to establish United Kingdom online centres in the North Norfolk constituency; and for what reasons these applicants were unsuccessful. [18174]

John Healey: Government Office East received two applications. These were from separate areas of the Norfolk Library and Information Service. In consultation with the applicants, the two applications were trimmed to one without cutting any proposed provision, and the combined application was successful in securing phase 3 Capital Modernisation funding. There were no unsuccessful applications from North Norfolk in phase 3.

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