| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Examination Marking
Mr. Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many examiners in England and Wales were examining (a) A-level, (b) AS-level and (c) GCSE for the first time in 2001; what percentage the total of these figures is of the total number of examiners; and what the comparable (i) A-level and (ii) GCSE figures were for 1997. [33106]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Data on first time examiners recruited by the awarding bodies are not collated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority or the Department. Each awarding body keeps its own records.
Fair Trade Fortnight
Mr. Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage participation by her Department in Fair Trade Fortnight from 4 to 17 March. [33550]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We welcome initiatives that aim to support sustainable development education. Various areas of the curriculum in England provide opportunities to study fair trade and other international development issues in all sectors of education. It is up to educational institutions to choose whether and how to take part in a particular initiative such as Fair Trade Fortnight. The Department for International Development is providing £120,000 to the Fairtrade Foundation over three years (2001–03) in support of its annual Fair Trade Fortnight campaigns.
Class Sizes (St. Helens)
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) five, (b) six and (c) seven-year-olds in (i) St. Helens, South, (ii) St. Helens metropolitan borough authority and (iii) Merseyside were in class sizes of over 30 in (A) 1997, (B) 1998, (C) 1999, (D) 2000 and (E) 2001. [33696]
John Healey: The information requested is shown in the table.
| St. Helens, South | St. Helens local education authority | Merseyside Government office region | England | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1,080 | 2,463 | 15,859 | 476,822 |
| 1998 | 1,087 | 2,519 | 16,293 | 485,311 |
| 1999 | 990 | 2,271 | 11,746 | 356,586 |
| 2000 | 561 | 1,050 | (21)— | 176,962 |
| 2001 | 32 | 32 | (21)— | 35,813 |
(20) Includes middle schools as deemed
(21) Not applicable
Source:
Annual Schools Census
From January 2000 the Merseyside region was included within the north-west Government office region.
11 Feb 2002 : Column 98W
Individual Learning Accounts
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to his answer of 31 January 2002, Official Report, column 483W, how many learning providers fall into each decile measured by the amount owed to them by her Department (a) on 23 November 2001 and (b) on 24 October 2001; and what was the upper and lower value of each decile. [33786]
John Healey [holding answer 5 February 2002]: The figures for amounts owed in the tables include payments due for eligible claims and amounts withheld from providers already suspended prior to the closure of the programme on 23 November. The figures for amounts owed in the table for 23 November also include amounts withheld pending validation checks on claims.
| Decile | Range start (£) | Range end (£) | Number of registered providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 100,826 | 2,323 |
| 2 | 100,826 | 201,651 | 23 |
| 3 | 201,651 | 302,477 | 9 |
| 4 | 302,477 | 403,303 | 6 |
| 5 | 403,303 | 504,129 | 0 |
| 6 | 504,129 | 604,954 | 2 |
| 7 | 604,954 | 705,780 | 0 |
| 8 | 705,780 | 806,606 | 1 |
| 9 | 806,606 | 907,431 | 0 |
| 10 | 907,431 | 1,008,257 | 1 |
| Total | 2,365 |
| Decile | Range start (£) | Range end (£) | Number of registered providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 34,660 | 1,238 |
| 2 | 34,660 | 69,320 | 33 |
| 3 | 69,320 | 103,980 | 8 |
| 4 | 103,980 | 138,640 | 0 |
| 5 | 138,640 | 173,300 | 3 |
| 6 | 173,300 | 207,960 | 0 |
| 7 | 207,960 | 242,620 | 1 |
| 8 | 242,620 | 277,280 | 0 |
| 9 | 277,280 | 311,940 | 1 |
| 10 | 311,940 | 346,600 | 1 |
| Total | 1,285 |
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many learning providers under the ILA scheme fall into each decile measured by the value of their work for the Department; and what was the upper and lower value of each decile. [33787]
John Healey [holding answer 5 February 2002]: The figures of registered learning providers listed in the table relate only to those providers who have at some stage made claims through the Individual Learning Account Centre system. The value of work covers the period from 1 September 2000 to 23 November 2001 and includes amounts withheld from providers already suspended prior to the programme closure on 23 November and amounts withheld pending validation checks on claims.
11 Feb 2002 : Column 99W
| Decile | Range start (£) | Range end (£) | Number of registered providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 626,347 | 5,984 |
| 2 | 626,347 | 1,252,694 | 48 |
| 3 | 1,252,694 | 1,879,042 | 20 |
| 4 | 1,879,042 | 2,505,389 | 3 |
| 5 | 2,505,389 | 3,131,736 | 1 |
| 6 | 3,131,736 | 3,758,083 | 1 |
| 7 | 3,758,083 | 4,384,430 | 1 |
| 8 | 4,384,430 | 5,010,778 | 0 |
| 9 | 5,010,778 | 5,637,125 | 0 |
| 10 | 5,637,125 | 6,263,472 | 2 |
| Total | 6,060 |
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the level of fraud discovered in individual learning accounts. [34012]
John Healey: The Department's Special Investigations Unit is investigating 93 registered learning providers. Of these, police are investigating 13 and the Department's Special Investigation Unit is discussing a further 53 with the police.
44 arrests have been made in relation to allegations of fraud with the operation of the individual learning account programme, 12 have been charged one of whom has been convicted.
Lost/Stolen Property
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list those items valued at less than £50 each which have been stolen or lost from her Department in each of the last four years. [34207]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The following table details the equipment stolen or lost from the Department for Education and Skills, valued less than £50 each.
- Financial year 1998–99: Nil return
Financial year 1999–2000: Nil return
Financial year 2000–01: Nil return.
| Description | Telephone charger | Dictaphone |
|---|---|---|
| Number of items | 1 | 1 |
| Approximate value per item (£) | 25 | 40 |
| Total approximate value (£) | 25 | 40 |
Note:
The total number of items stolen amounts to £65 for the last four years.
English Baccalaureate
Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans her Department has to introduce an English Baccalaureate; and if she will make a statement. [34565]
Mr. Timms: The White Paper, "Schools: achieving success" explains that we want to begin a debate about how to develop a coherent 14–19 education phase. As part of such a phase, the White Paper puts forward the proposal for an overarching award that would recognise
11 Feb 2002 : Column 100W
achievement in both academic and vocational subjects. A forthcoming 14–19 consultation paper will consider the proposal for such an award in more detail.
AS Levels
Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many representations have been made to the Hargreaves inquiry on the first year of AS levels. [34662]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority received 150 representations about AS levels while compiling its report into Curriculum 2000.
Standard Spending Assessment (LEAs)
Mrs. Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will rank each local education authority by (a) the average salary per teacher and (b) the funding per pupil allocated through the standard spending assessment for the latest year for which figures are available. [34798]
Mr. Timms: The rankings of each LEA with regard to average teacher salary at 31 March 2000 and primary and secondary SSA per pupil in 2002–03 are as follows. A ranking of 1 denotes highest average salary and highest funding per pupil.
(22) These LEAs have returned data for less than 20 per cent. of their teachers. To estimate average salaries in these authorities, figures from March 1999 were grossed up by 3.9 per cent.
11 Feb 2002 : Column 102W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |