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Nursing Diploma

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the student funding review is examining funding arrangements for nurses on diploma courses. [43333]

Margaret Hodge: No. Funding for nurses on diploma courses does not form part of the student finance review being undertaken by my Department, as it is the responsibility of the Department of Health.

25 Mar 2002 : Column 630W

School Conditions

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many schools were (a) rebuilt and (b) substantially remodelled in 2001–02; [46115]

(2) if she will list by LEA building works in schools exceeding £1 million undertaken in each year since 1997, stating (a) when the decision was made to go ahead with the project, (b) the political control of the LEA, (c) the cost of the works and (d) the constituency within which the school is located; [45870]

(3) if she will list by LEA the newly constructed schools opened in each year since 1997, stating (a) when the decision was made to construct the school, (b) the political control of the local education authority, (c) the cost of the buildings and (d) the constituency in which the school is located. [45869]

John Healey: We do not hold information in the form requested. Much capital support is allocated to local education authorities and schools on a formulaic basis. Records of how it is utilised for specific projects are held locally.

Demountable Classrooms

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many demountable classrooms there are in Shrewsbury and Atcham; and where they are. [44296]

John Healey: As part of the data collected through the appraisal of Asset Management Plans, the Department has some information on the overall area of temporary buildings at schools, but it is not possible from these data to identify with any precision the number of demountable classrooms within individual authorities.

The data we have on temporary buildings will be appraised with a view to publishing analysis to support benchmarking later this year.

Education Maintenance Allowances

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils in receipt of education maintenance allowances attend (a) selective and (b) non-selective schools in each authority where they are paid. [45868]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: We do not require local education authorities, who administer the pilot EMA schemes, to collect this information. EMA is targeted at eligible young people irrespective of what type of school or college they attend.

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PFI/PPPs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the difference was between the price offered in reaching preferred bidder stage and the final contract price for PPP contracts let by her Department in each of the last four years; and if she will make a statement. [45616]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The final contract price for Capita to deliver the Connexions Card project was £109.7 million over seven years. The details of the various bidding stages during contractual negotiations are commercial in confidence.

Physical Education

Mr. Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her latest estimate is of the number of schools providing two hours of sport and PE during the school day each week. [45109]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The national curriculum for PE includes an aspiration that all schools should offer two hours physical activity a week. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's PE and School Sport Project has found that with imaginative and flexible timetabling schools can and do provide two hours of high quality PE and school sport per week. All of the schools involved in the project are doing this. Our White Paper "Schools: achieving success" gives a commitment that all children will be entitled to two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week, within and outside the curriculum.

14 to 19 Education

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how she plans to involve young people in the consultation on the Government's plans for the education of those aged 14 to 19; and if she will make a statement. [44773]

Mr. Timms: We recognise the need to take full account of the views of young people on the 14–19 reforms and, for the first time ever, we have produced a version of the Green Paper specifically for them.

Copies of this have been distributed to members of the UK Youth Parliament and, through the British Youth Council, to Youth Councils around the country. Sample copies will also be distributed to schools, FE sector colleges and LEAs with encouragement for teachers to engage young people in the consultation process in guided PSHE and citizenship sessions or through student councils.

Events will also be organised for a wide cross-section of young people through local Connexions Partnerships. We are also inviting the UK Youth Parliament and the British Youth Council to consider the proposals and respond and Ministers are discussing the proposals with groups of young people during ministerial visits.

We have also placed the Green Paper online on the DfES young people's gateway at www.dfes.gov.uk/ youngpeople and advertised on websites popular with young people.

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School Playing Fields

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures her Department has taken to prevent the selling of school playing fields. [44444]

John Healey: Before October 1998, there was nothing to prevent a local authority selling a school playing field if it wanted to. As a result of widespread public concern, section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 was introduced in October 1998 to stop the indiscriminate sale of school playing fields. Local authorities and governing bodies of all maintained schools are now required to obtain the Secretary of State's consent before they can sell any part of a playing field.

Applications to sell school playing fields are assessed against the following criteria:

a. schools' needs: that playing field provision and curriculum requirements at the school selling the playing field, and at other schools in the local area, will be met;

b. community needs: that community use of a school's playing fields is taken into account, with alternative facilities made available if necessary;

c. finance: that the sale proceeds are re-invested to provide new or improved sports facilities at schools, or are used to help to raise standards by providing better educational facilities.

The criteria are set out in the Department's Guidance 0580/2001: "The Protection of School Playing Fields and Land for City Academies". Only those applications that meet the criteria are approved. Furthermore, since July 2001, all applications have been scrutinised by the independent School Playing Fields Advisory Panel to make sure that they conform to the published criteria. The Panel comprises representatives from the National Playing Fields Association, the Central Council of Physical Recreation, the education organisation Learning through Landscapes, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Local Government Association.

Teachers

Mr. Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many full-time equivalent teachers there were in maintained (a) nursery, (b) primary and (c) secondary schools in January 2001; and how many there were in 1984. [46008]

Mr. Timms: The numbers of regular full-time equivalent teachers in the maintained sector in England were as follows:

	January 1984	January 2001
Nursery	1,600	1,600
Primary	171,200	193,400
Secondary	224,200	196,700

Notes:

1. 1984 secondary numbers exclude estimated sixth form college numbers.

2. Part-time teachers have been converted to an estimate of their full-time equivalence and added to full-time numbers.

3. Excludes occasional teachers.

4. Teachers whose service is divided between primary and secondary schools have been apportioned pro-rata to the nursery/ primary or secondary phase.

25 Mar 2002 : Column 633W

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers left the profession in the latest period for which figures are available. [45408]

Mr. Timms: In the year to 31 March 2000, the latest for which data are available, 34,900 qualified teachers left full-time or part-time regular service in the maintained schools sector in England for reasons including retirement. Over the same period, there were 36,300 new entrants or re-entrants to the maintained schools sector in England. These data are provisional.

Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of the teaching work force in schools in England supply teachers comprise. [45270]

Mr. Timms: The information is not available in the form requested. Occasional teachers employed on contracts of less than one month and who worked for the whole of the survey date, comprised 4.6 per cent. of the total full-time equivalent number of teachers working in maintained schools in England on 18 January 2001.

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