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Central Pupil Database
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) which organisations and individuals will have access to the personal details of pupils stored on the central pupil database; [29372]
- (2) who will have responsibility for approving requests for access to information held on the central pupil database; [29373]
(3) if it is her policy to destroy files on the central pupil database which relate to pupils who leave the state education system. [29370]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 22 January 2002]: The central pupil database will contain statistical profiles of pupils in England, built up over time from the "Pupil Level Annual Schools Census" (PLASC) returns which maintained schools will provide each January from January 2002, plus details of Key Stage assessment and examination results obtained separately from schools, marking agencies or examination boards. In order for these profiles to be accurate pupil names are needed to help ensure that all data relating to the same pupil are collated correctly.
Access to the personal details of pupils
The Department has no interest in the identity of individual pupils as such, and will be using the database solely for statistical purposes, with only technical staff directly engaged in the data collation process having access to pupil names.
Any disclosures of personal data (ie data including names or other details that would enable the recipient to determine the identity of individual pupils) will have to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and any other legislation relevant to the particular case. Subject to this proviso, organisations or individuals who may have access to personal data are as follows:
- 1. the pupil (or their parents or guardians) will be able to request a copy of their own record in order to confirm its accuracy;
- 2. in the case of a child in local authority care, the local authority social services department will, as the child's "corporate parent", be able to obtain a copy of that child's record;
- 3. schools and LEAs will be able to obtain information about their own pupils to which they have a statutory entitlement but may be missing (for example as a result of pupil mobility);
- 4. requests from research organisations will be considered by the Secretary of State if, for a specific research project, pupil names are needed in order to link information from the central database with other information obtained by the research organisation via a separate survey;
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- 5. to minimise burdens on schools, for pupils approaching or above age 13, consideration is being given to the Connexions Service receiving from the central database (rather than from schools):
- (a) pupil names and any available contact details (information to which the Connexions Service has a statutory entitlement under section 117(1) of the Learning and Skills Act 2000);
- (b) other information held on the database if, and only if, the pupil or their parent (depending on the pupil's age) has not exercised their right under section 117(2) of the Learning and Skills Act to instruct that this information be withheld from the Connexions Service;
- (6) where there are legal proceedings to trace a child (for example in an abduction case) the court can require the Department to provide it with any information it has about the whereabouts of that child.
No disclosures of personal data beyond those listed above are anticipated at this time. Should future developments indicate that further disclosures may be appropriate, these will be considered by the Secretary of State on their merits, subject to the overriding requirement to comply with the Data Protection Act and any other relevant legislation.
With respect to (4) above, requests from research organisations, the precise arrangements for considering whether or not to approve such requests have yet to be decided. However the factors likely to be taken into account are:
- the bona fides of the research and the organisation undertaking it;
a demonstrable need for information including pupil names (in many cases anonymised information may be sufficient);
a willingness by the research organisation to take all reasonable steps to inform schools of the research and involve them in it;
satisfactory assurances from the research organisation with regard to storing the information securely, using it only for the approved research purpose, disposing of it when that research has been completed, and not passing it on to any other person or organisation.
Policy with respect to pupils leaving the state education system
The Department does not intend to delete the records of pupils who leave the maintained schools sector, either at age 16 or 18, or before then. Information for these pupils remains of statistical and research value—for example to analyse young people's progression from school into further education and training, higher education and the labour market. The Department will be using information on past pupils for statistical and research purposes only, and any disclosures will be for
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those purposes only. On this basis section 33 of the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be retained indefinitely.
Higher Education
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which constituencies have no higher education establishments within their boundaries. [29387]
Margaret Hodge: The available information, showing the number of HE institutions in each constituency in the UK, is contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library. The tables only take into account the location of the main site of the institution; some institutions have more than one campus, which may be situated in a different constituency.
Administration
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the administrative cost was of those functions of her Department concerned with schools in each year since 1997; and how much that sum represented per pupil. [29660]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 23 January 2002]: Since 1997, the Government's agenda for raising standards in schools has led to the introduction of many new policies, programmes and strategies. For example,
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the national literacy and numeracy strategies, working towards improved results at Key Stages 2 and 3, excellence in cities, along with modernising the teaching profession have all led to an increase in administrative spending on schools functions within the Department to ensure their effective delivery and continued success. However, this has mostly been achieved by redeploying resources from other functions in DfES. In real terms the Department's overall administrative costs were broadly the same in 2000–01 as they were in 1997–98.
Administrative costs for schools related functions, along with the sums that these represent per pupil, each year since 1997 were as follows:
| £ million | £ per pupil | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 23.4 | 2.85 |
| 1998–99 | 27.0 | 3.28 |
| 1999–2000 | 31.0 | 3.73 |
| 2000–01 | 34.5 | 4.14 |
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the administrative cost was of those functions of her Department concerned with (a) further and (b) higher education in each year since 1997; and how much those sums represented per full-term equivalent student. [29661]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 23 January 2002]: The figures are given in the table for the years in question:
| Financial year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | |
| DFES further education administration costs (£000s) | 1,717 | 1,471 | 2,578 | 1,763 |
| DFES administrative cost per full time equivalent FE students (£s) | 1.69 | 1.48 | 2.63 | 1.69 |
| DfES higher education administrative costs (£000s) | 6,162 | 8,358 | 5,501 | 6,358 |
| DfES administrative cost per full time equivalent HE student (£s) | 6.05 | 8.17 | 5.28 | 5.98 |
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the administrative cost was of those functions of her Department concerned with early years in each year since 1997; and how much that sum represented per child under five in the population. [29663]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 23 January 2002]: The estimated administrative costs of my Department concerned with early years and the sums that these represent per child under five in the population in each of the years in question were:
| Year | Administrative costs (£000) | Sum per child under five (£) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | 612 | 0.20 |
| 1998–99 | 1,018 | 0.33 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,149 | 0.38 |
| 2000–01 | 1,623 | 0.54 |
The increase in funding for these functions reflects this Government's manifesto commitment to expand the early years sector, helping create new provision and to extend support for existing provision. This has mostly been achieved by redeploying resources from other functions in DfES. In real terms the Department's overall administrative costs were broadly the same in 2000–01 as they were in 1997–98.
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