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Occasional Teachers
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish the number of occasional teachers working in each LEA area on the date of the 2002 census of teachers in service giving the percentage which this comprises of the total number of teachers working in that authority. [25955]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is not yet available.
Provisional summary information on teachers in service at national and regional level at January 2002 is expected to be published in April or May, as in previous years. Information at local education authority level will be published later in "Statistics of Education, Teachers, England, 2002 edition".
Teacher Vacancies
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) when she will publish the number of teacher vacancies in maintained schools in each local education authority area in January; [26583]
- (2) how many teacher vacancies there are in England broken down by local education authority area; and in each case what the figure is as a percentage of the establishment figure at the time of the annual census of teachers in January 2002. [26400]
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Mr. Timms: The latest available information on teacher vacancies in each local authority, for January 2001, is published in my Department's evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body in September 2001. This is also available on the DfES website at www.dfes.gov.uk/ teachingreforms/rewards/teacherspay/strb_evidence/ index.shtml.
As in previous years, provisional summary data on teacher vacancies at national and regional level in January 2002 are expected to be published in April or May. Teacher vacancy information at local education authority level will be published in the DfES evidence to the School Teacher's Review Body in September 2002. It will also be published later in "Statistics of Education, Teachers, England", 2002 edition.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what information she has collated on the number of teaching vacancies which have to be re-advertised. [28528]
Mr. Timms: My Department does not collect information on the number of readvertisements.
Tuition Fees
Sue Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will compensate those students who have started their course after the introduction of tuition fees but who will not benefit from changes to the system that decrease student debt. [27157]
Margaret Hodge: There are no significant changes in student funding arrangements planned for 2002–03 academic year. Decisions on changes for 2003–04 academic year and beyond will be taken in due course.
Teachers (Hillingdon)
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school teachers have left the London borough of Hillingdon education authority in each of the past five years as a result of (i) ill health, (ii) reaching retirement age, (iii) early retirement and (iv) to work for another education authority. [26940]
Mr. Timms: Qualified teachers leaving regular full and part-time service in maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools in Hillingdon to retire or work for another local authority are as follows:
(6) 1999–2000 data are provisional
Note:
The figures exclude 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. of part-time teachers not included on the Teacher Pension Scheme records.
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Student Support
John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to introduce a new system of student support for students in higher education. [27223]
Margaret Hodge: We have announced a review of the current student funding policy. No decisions have been taken on the timing of implementation of possible changes arising from that review.
Education Action Zones
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects the East Manchester Education Action Zone accounts for the year ended 31 March 2001 to be published. [27684]
Mr. Timms: I expect the annual accounts for all statutory education action zones to be published by the end of April 2002. This reflects the Comptroller and Auditor General's intention to certify individual EAZ accounts with a clear audit opinion by 31 March 2002.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which education action zones have not published their accounts for (a) the year ended 31 March 2000 and (b) the year ended 31 March 2001. [27685]
Mr. Timms: For the year ended 31 March 2000, the accounts of eight education action zones have not yet been published. These are Plymouth, Sunderland, East Cleveland, Dudley, Weston, Birmingham Aston Nechells, Hackney and Camborne, Redruth and Pool.
None of the accounts for year ended 31 March 2001 have been published.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what time limits are set down for the production of accounts by education action zones. [27686]
Mr. Timms: The Schools Standards and Framework Act 1988 requires all education action zones to submit accounts to the Comptroller and Auditor General by 31 August following the end of the financial year to which they relate.
Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what reasons underlie the length of time taken to publish the East Manchester Education Action Zone accounts for the year ended 31 March 2000; and if she will make a statement. [27725]
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Mr. Timms [holding answer 16 January 2002]: In their first year of operation some zones had difficulty in submitting auditable sets of annual accounts; East Manchester was one such zone. As a result the National Audit Office had to undertake considerable additional work on East Manchester EAZ accounts, including agreeing a significant number of amendments before these could be published on 9 January 2002.
Sure Start
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made on the evaluation of the Sure Start programme begun in 2001; and if she will make a statement. [26817]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 15 January 2002]: The national evaluation of Sure Start will look at the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of Sure Start in the short, medium and long term. Researchers from Birkbeck college, University of London are carrying out this work on behalf of the Government.
A comprehensive programme of fieldwork is under way. Findings will be published on a regular basis starting with a report on the early experiences of setting up and implementing Sure Start, in spring 2002. The first findings on the impact of Sure Start on children, families and communities will be available in spring 2003.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when Warrington will be invited to submit a bid for another Sure Start project. [26818]
Yvette Cooper [holding answer 15 January 2002]: Later this year we will invite more applications for Sure Start, bringing the total number of programmes announced to at least 500. The districts where these programmes will be located will be selected primarily on the basis of their levels of disadvantage and child poverty. I cannot say at this stage which districts will be included.
Specialist Schools
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to abolish the requirement for schools to raise £50,000 from local sources before securing specialist status; what assessment she has made of the difficulties of raising such funding in areas of high deprivation; and if she will make a statement. [26539]
Mr. Timms: There are no plans to abolish the requirement on specialist school applicants to raise £50,000 sponsorship but we do keep the sponsorship criteria under annual review. We are aware that some schools find raising the required sponsorship more difficult than others and we grant aid the Technology Colleges Trust and Youth Sport Trust to provide advice and support to applicants, including in relation to raising sponsorship. There are specialist schools in all parts of the country and a wide range of areas. Nearly 90 schools have been designated in Excellence in Cities (EiC) areas since EiC was implemented.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have taken on specialist status in each quarter since May 1997, broken down by different specialist areas chosen; and if she will make a statement. [26542]
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Mr. Timms: The number of specialist school designations by specialism from each competition since May 1997 is shown in the table.
| Competitions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arts | Sports | Language | Technology | Total | |
| May 1997 | 3 | 5 | — | — | 8 |
| October 1997 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 32 |
| March 1998 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 28 | 51 |
| October 1998 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 15 | 43 |
| March 1999 | — | — | 9 | 28 | 37 |
| June 1999 | 20 | 24 | — | — | 44 |
| October 1999 | — | — | 15 | 22 | 37 |
| March 2000 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 59 |
| June 2000 | 18 | 16 | — | — | 34 |
| October 2000 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 25 | 39 |
| March 2001 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 33 | 79 |
| Total | 88 | 95 | 80 | 200 | 463 |
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what financial provision her Department has made in the next three years to support additional specialist schools; what her estimate is of the number of specialist schools in each quarter over the next three years; what her estimate is of the proportion of all schools which will be specialist-status in each quarter over the next three years; and if she will make a statement. [26543]
Mr. Timms: Financial provision for the specialist schools programme up to 2003–04 is provided in the table. Any future and additional funding will be considered as part of the 2002 Spending Review.
| Financial year | £ million |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 108.0 |
| 2003–04 | 127.0 |
New specialist schools start operating as such in September each year. Current projections are for at least 830 by September 2002 (25 per cent. of maintained secondary schools), at least 1,000 by September 2003, (31 per cent. of maintained secondary schools) and at least 1,500 by 2005 (46 per cent. of maintained secondary schools).
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list schools which have been granted specialist status without having to raise £50,000 themselves from local private sources, showing the amount they raised locally and the sources of other moneys raised to meet the £50,000 threshold; and if she will make a statement. [26545]
Mr. Timms: All specialist schools have to raise £50,000 sponsorship. This may come from local or national sources in any combination. Information showing the amount of sponsorship raised from different sources can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Specialist schools raise sponsorship from a range of sources including national companies, local business, charitable trusts, parent teacher associations and individuals. They are supported by the Technology Colleges Trust and (in the case of sports colleges) the Youth Sports Trust.
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Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the application process for the next round of specialist school awards. [26546]
Mr. Timms: My Department is currently assessing applications received in October 2001. Successful schools will be announced in February. The next competition closing dates are in March. All applications received will be assessed against the published criteria set out in the guidance relevant to each of the specialisms.
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