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Correspondence

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Advocate-General how many pieces of correspondence her office has answered from non-government sources since the general election. [29343]

The Advocate-General: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Office of the Solicitor to the Advocate-General

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Advocate-General how many (a) advocates and (b) solicitors have been employed in the Office of the Solicitor to the Advocate-General in each year since the creation of her office. [29345]

The Advocate-General: In the years 1999–2000 the complement of the Office of the Solicitor to the Advocate-General was 14 lawyers. In 2001 this increased to 16 lawyers. In each year one lawyer was an advocate and the rest solicitors.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

External Consultants

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent by (a) her Department and (b) bodies for which it is responsible on external public relations consultants in each of the last four years. [27388]

25 Jan 2002 : Column 1130W

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Expenditure by the Department on campaign extension activities through external public relations consultancies in the past four years is as follows. Information on expenditure by the Department's agencies is not held centrally.

Year	Campaign	Consultancy	Spend (£000)
1999	Reading and Literacy	Hill and Knowlton	(1)620
2000	Maths Year	COI	16
2000	Childcare helpline	COI	1
2000	Connexions	Kinross and Render	4
2000	Don't quit now	Beer Davies	196
2000	UK Online centres	Geronimo	63
2001	UK Online centres	Geronimo	52
2001	New Deal	Hill and Knowlton	46
2001	Connexions	Kinross and Render	42
2001	Foundation Degrees	QBO	114
2001	Childcare Recruitment	Barclay Stratton	90
2001	Work Life Balance	Fishburn Hedges	89
2001	Individual Learning Accounts	Shandwick International	110
2001	Widening Participation in Higher Education	Harrison Cowley	62
2002	Adult Basics Skills	Fishburn Hedges	(2)103
2002	Work Life Balance	Fishburn Hedges	217
2002	UK Online	Geronimo	(2)90
2002	Aim Higher	Geronimo	(2)100

⁽¹⁾ Figure includes general publicity activity, on organising roadshows and events, in addition to campaign extension work. A breakdown between categories is not available.

⁽²⁾ On-going campaign—figure shown is anticipated spend for year.

Market Research

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what expenditure has been incurred by her (a) Department, (b) agencies and (c) non- departmental public bodies in each of the last four years on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; and if she will list the surveys commissioned and the purpose of each. [27953]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department commissions tightly focused market research to help develop and evaluate publicity campaigns. The spend in recent years was:

	£
1998–99	1,408,908
1999–2000	1,687,050
2000–01	2,340,222
2001–02(3)	1,256,121

⁽³⁾ To January 2002

It would be possible to list every one of these research projects only at disproportionate cost. However, some recent campaigns where strategic communications research or creative development research have been commissioned include the drive to widen participation in higher education, by encouraging under-represented groups to take up this option, the promotion of the relevance of science to teenagers, as part of Science Year, the child care recruitment campaign, the campaign to help those adults with basic skills gaps, and the promotion of foundation degrees and modern apprenticeships.This research is subject to the usual strict rules that spending must represent good value for the tax payer and must not be used for party political purposes.

The Department also conducts research to help us understand the education, skills and communication needs of our customers. It has sampled and consulted on the

25 Jan 2002 : Column 1131W

views of teachers, parents and other groups affected by the Department's policies on specific issues. For example, the project "Causes of truancy by pupils of compulsory school age" gathers the views of pupils, parents, school and LEA staff on the causes of truancy and what measures could be taken to address the issue. One of the aims is to examine the issue of absence that is condoned by parents. "A longitudinal study of factors contributing to variations in teacher effectiveness" will investigate the factors which contribute to the effectiveness of teachers at different stages of their career, working in a range of schools in different contexts, and how this changes over time. Part of this study is to track 300 teachers over three years measuring their effectiveness by pupil outcome measures and other qualitative techniques. Again it would not be possible to give details of every project without disproportionate cost.

Information about opinion polls, focus groups and other forms of research commissioned by the Department's agencies and non-departmental public bodies is not held centrally.

Refurbishment

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the cost of buildings refurbishment carried out by her Department in each of the last four years. [27957]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The estimated cost of buildings refurbishment carried out in my Department in each of the last four years is as follows:

£

	Estimated cost
2000–01	4,604,749
1999–2000	3,928,406
1998–99	2,970,093
1997–98	(4)—

⁽⁴⁾ Unfortunately this information can be provided only at disproportionate cost

Regulatory Impact Assessments

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many regulatory impact assessments have been produced by her Department since August 2001; and if she will list those produced (a) following initial consultation with affected parties about the most appropriate methodology for assessing costs and other impacts and (b) which set out full commercial impacts, including profitability, employment, consumer prices and competitiveness, as recommended in Good Policy Making. [28400]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office, on 17 January 2002, Official Report, column 483W.

Specialist Designation

Ann Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether there is a barrier to a school's PFI partner sponsoring a bid for technology status by that school. [28353]

25 Jan 2002 : Column 1132W

John Healey: As stated in the criteria set out in the published guidance documents for each specialism, a PFI partner may provide all or part of the £50,000 sponsorship required to support a school's application for designation as a specialist school.

Pupil Mobility

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effect of pupil mobility on educational attainment. [29234]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department and the Nuffield Foundation supported a research project into pupil mobility, its effect on schools and educational attainment, conducted by the Migration Research Unit at University College London. The project was concluded in June 2000 and the final report published in September 2000. The first part of the research 'Pupil Mobility in Schools' is available from DfES Publications. The second part is available in full on the internet at www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/mru.

Teachers

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to her answer of 5 December 2001, Official Report, column 426W, if she will break down the figures by vacancies in (a) nursery, (b) primary, (c) secondary and (d) special schools; and what the equivalent figures are for England. [30127]

Mr. Timms: Full-time teacher vacancies in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools reported by the Buckinghamshire local authority were as follows:

	January 1998	January 2001
Nursery	0	0
Primary	10	21
Secondary	14	33
Special	11	5
Total	35	59

Full-time teacher vacancies in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools in England were as follows:

	January 1998	January 2001
Nursery	69	103
Primary	1,322	2,007
Secondary	968	2,586
Special	233	280
Total	2,592	4,976

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