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Leicestershire Constabulary

Mr. Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are employed in the Leicestershire Constabulary; and on what grade. [31981]

Mr. Denham: The latest information available is for 30 September 2001 and is given in the table.

Rank	Number of officers
Chief Constable	1
Assistant Chief Constable	2
Superintendents	17
Chief Inspectors	20
Inspectors	90
Sergeants	261
Constables	1,671
Total all ranks	2,062

Source:

Home Office Statistical Bulletin—Police Service Strength 30 September 2001

Leicestershire Constabulary also employed 691 civilian support staff on 30 September 2001.

Crime and Disorder Partnerships

Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how he will allocate the money being made available from the Capital Modernisation Fund to Crime and Disorder partnerships in England and Wales to assist small retailers in deprived areas. [34088]

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Mr. Denham: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced on 27 June 2001 the provision of £15 million over three years from the Capital Modernisation Fund to assist small retailers in deprived areas to improve the security of their businesses. £3 million is available in the 2001–02 financial year, with a further £6 million in both 2002–03 and 2003–04.

This money, which is being spent on schemes identified by regional crime reduction directors, in conjunction with Crime and Disorder Reduction partnerships, will be used to help small retailers to improve security. This will be achieved by employing a variety of interventions, including enhancing the security of individual premises and improving the environment of shopping centres.

I am now able to announce the specific projects which will receive funding from the 2001–02 allocation. £100,000 of the first year funding of £3 million has been set aside for administration and evaluation. The remaining £2.9 million has been distributed to regions in England and Wales using a straightforward formula based on relevant and readily available information. The formula shares 30 per cent. of funds equally between the nine regions in England and Wales, allocates 30 per cent. based on the proportion of population living in the 10 per cent. most deprived wards and 40 per cent. on levels of recorded crimes which impact most on retailers. The regional allocation of project funds for 2002–03 and 2003–04 will be announced in due course.

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I have placed in the Library a paper showing the allocation of funds to individual projects. I have also written to hon. Members in England and Wales who have projects in their constituencies.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Qualified Teacher Status

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many newly qualified teachers had failed to achieve the award of qualified teacher status by 31 December 2001. [33427]

Mr. Timms: Newly qualified teachers have, by definition, achieved the award of qualified teacher status. However, the Induction Standards include a requirement that teachers who qualified between 1 May 2000 and 30 April 2001 must pass the numeracy skills test before the satisfactory completion of induction. As of 31 December 2001, there were 79 newly qualified teachers who had registered for the numeracy skills test but still had not passed. These teachers have until 31 August 2002 to pass the test.

Teachers

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers will reach the age of 60 in each of the next five school years. [33961]

Mr. Timms: The numbers of teachers in regular full-time service in the maintained schools sector in England at 31 March 2000 who will reach the age of 60 in the next five academic years are as follows:

Date of birth	School year in which teacher will reach age 60	Number of teachers
1 September 1941 to 31 August 1942	1 September 2001 to 31 August 2002	3,380
1 September 1942 to 31 August 1943	1 September 2002 to 31 August 2003	4,700
1 September 1943 to 31 August 1944	1 September 2003 to 31 August 2004	6,010
1 September 1944 to 31 August 1945	1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005	6,870
1 September 1945 to 31 August 1946	1 September 2005 to 31 August 2006	8,810

Note:

The data are provisional.

Student Teachers

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the decision on the cut-out point for incentive payments to PGCE students was arrived at. [34044]

Mr. Timms: Teacher training bursaries were designed to encourage more graduates to apply for and enter courses of initial teacher training from 2000–01 onwards. Consequently, it was decided in March 2000 that those graduates who had commenced training before 1 September 2000, or before 1 September 1999 in the case of those following two-year full-time Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses, would not be eligible for these payments. Following representations from hon. Members and others, my right hon. Friend subsequently announced that, for reasons of equity, eligibility for the training bursaries would be extended to those whose courses had begun before 1 September 2000 and who remained in attendance on 20 April 2001.

Tuition Fees

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the sums raised by tuition fees in higher education has been directly remitted to higher education institutions; and if she will make a statement. [31978]

Margaret Hodge: Tuition fees, whether paid by students or the taxpayer, are paid directly to higher education institutions.

CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

School Sports Co-ordinators

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the total cost of the school sports co-ordinator programme in 2001–02; and if she will estimate the total cost of the school sports co-ordinator programme in September 2004. [28610]

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Dr. Howells: Sport England estimate the cost of implementation in 2001–02 to be £15 million.

Sport England have been allocated £90 million to implement the school sports co-ordinator programme by September 2004, which is supplemented by £19.76 million from the New Opportunities Fund for out of school hours sporting activities run by school sports co-ordinators.

Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many school sports co-ordinators will be in post by (a) September 2002, (b) September 2003 and (c) September 2004. [28611]

Dr. Howells: Sport England estimate there will be 518 school sports co-ordinators in place by September 2002. Sport England are on course to reach the target set for 1,000 school sports co-ordinators by September 2004. The figure of school sports co-ordinators for September 2003 is not possible to predict accurately at this time.

Private Finance Initiative

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total external spend by her Department was on Private Finance Initiative consultants in each of the last four years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PFI consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by her Department over this period; and if she will make a statement. [31043]

Dr. Howells: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's total external spend on PFI consultants was: 1998—£27,000; 1999—£45,992; 2000—£20,247; and 2001—£25,759. All of this was incurred by the Royal Parks Agency, which used four consultancy firms. The information relating to the number of full-time equivalent consultants, billed consultancy days and the implied average cost of each consultant could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Golden Jubilee

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the state of preparations reached for celebrations between 1 and 4 June for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations. [30705]

Tessa Jowell: Preparations for the programme of events that I announced on 3 August 2001, are on schedule. Further announcements will be made about the concerts in Buckingham Palace gardens and the carnival pageant when the final details have been settled.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will publish the objectives of the Golden Jubilee Office and make a statement on its progress in achieving its objectives so far. [31081]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 28 January 2002]: The Queen's programme is being planned by Buckingham Palace. Working closely with the Palace, the Golden Jubilee Office is liaising with key Government Departments and other organisations in supporting and facilitating the celebrations. The 61 separate initiatives for the celebrations are being delivered effectively through 12 project plans, all of which are on target.

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Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the effectiveness and organisation of the planning of the celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee. [31605]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 30 January 2002]: The Queen's programme is being planned by Buckingham Palace. Working closely with the Palace, the Golden Jubilee Office is liaising with key Government Departments and other organisations in supporting and facilitating the celebrations. The 61 separate initiatives for the celebrations are being delivered effectively through 12 project plans, all of which are on target.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she has taken since her appointment to ensure that the Queen's Golden Jubilee is celebrated in a manner that reflect the wishes of the public. [31083]

Tessa Jowell [holding answer 28 January 2002]: The Government are working closely with Buckingham Palace to facilitate the celebrations for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in a way that embraces the six themes for the jubilee: celebration; giving thanks; service; involving the whole community; looking forward as well as back; and the Commonwealth, while adhering to her wish that there should be no undue expenditure from public funds. It is for local communities to decide how they wish to celebrate the Jubilee.

To help communities plan their local celebrations, the Golden Jubilee Office has distributed 20,000 Golden Jubilee celebrations toolkits to councils, Citizens' Advice Bureaux, libraries, a wide range of organisations across England, Scotland and Wales and the media. A further 10,000 copies have been subsequently requested. A reprint has been ordered to meet the current high level of demand. In addition, a team of representatives from Buckingham Palace and the Golden Jubilee Office are delivering joint briefings across the United Kingdom. To date, they have briefed over 450 organisations. More briefings are planned.

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what action she is taking to encourage local authorities to organise events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty the Queen; and if she will make a statement. [31755]

Tessa Jowell: The Government are working closely with Buckingham Palace to facilitate the celebrations for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in a way that embraces the six themes for the jubilee: celebration; giving thanks; service; involving the whole community; looking forward as well as back; and the Commonwealth, while adhering to her wish that there should be no undue expenditure from public funds. It is for local communities to decide how they wish to celebrate the Jubilee.

To help communities plan their local celebrations, the Golden Jubilee Office has distributed 20,000 Golden Jubilee celebrations toolkits to councils, Citizens' Advice Bureaux, libraries, a wide range of organisations across England, Scotland and Wales and the media. A further 10,000 copies have been subsequently requested. A reprint has been ordered to meet the current high level of demand. In addition, a team of representatives from Buckingham Palace and the Golden Jubilee Office are

6 Feb 2002 : Column 983W

delivering joint briefings across the United Kingdom. To date, they have briefed over 450 organisations. More briefings are planned.

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