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Maintained Grammar Schools
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of places in maintained grammar schools in each of the last five years. [48231]
Mr. Timms: The Department does not regularly collect information on the number of school places in any type of school. The 164 grammar schools in England account for just over 4 per cent. of the maintained secondary school population.
School Boarding Places
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of boarding places available in maintained schools in England in each of the last five years. [48232]
Mr. Timms: No estimate is available because this information is not held centrally.
Legal Action
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what has been the cost to her Department of legal actions involving the adjudicator established under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. [48229]
Mr. Timms: The Department has incurred costs of £77,934, since 1999, as a result of the judicial reviews of cases dealt with by the Schools Adjudicator.
Teacher Assaults
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers in maintained schools have been the victims of serious assaults by (a) pupils and (b) parents in each of the last five years. [48228]
Mr. Timms: My Department does not collect this information.
We deplore abuse by parents and others against teachers. We already have legal remedies in place to combat this, including injunctions, and prosecution for criminal damage, common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. We have made it clear that, where necessary, pupils can be excluded from school for assaulting a teacher, and we intend to make Parenting Orders available for parents of pupils who receive several fixed period exclusions from school or a permanent exclusion.
Grammar Schools
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what has been the cost of servicing (a) petitions and (b) ballots on the future of grammar schools in each year since the introduction of the ballot regulations. [48230]
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Mr. Timms: The Education (Grammar School Ballots) Regulations came into effect on 3 December 1998. Since then, there have been 39 requests for petition thresholds to be set, and one ballot has been held. To date, we have spent a total of £436,806.26 on petitions and ballots, as follows:
| Petition year | (a) Petition costs | (b) Ballot costs | Total for year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 22,778.81 | 0 | 22,778.81 |
| 1999–2000 | 216,283.51 | 1,708.07 | 218,063.58 |
| 2000–01 | 58,285.36 | 0 | 58,285.36 |
| 2001–02 | 137,678.51 | 0 | 137,678.51 |
| Totals | 435,026.19 | 1,780.07 | 436,806.26 |
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many grammar schools have held ballots on their future status; and what were the results of those ballots in each year since 1997. [47490]
Mr. Timms: Grammar school ballots legislation came into effect in December 1998, and since then one ballot has been held in respect of Ripon Grammar School; parents in the area voted 2–1 in favour of keeping selective admissions.
School Sixth Forms
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received from (a) schools with sixth forms and (b) local education authorities regarding the operation of learning and skills councils in respect of funding school sixth forms; and if she will make a statement. [48241]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend has received representations from a number of school headteachers, deputy headteachers and local education authorities.
The Real Term Guarantee given to sixth forms means that their funding will be maintained relative to 2000–01 funding levels, provided pupil numbers are maintained. The Learning and Skills Council has calculated two figures for each sixth form—its RTG and its LSC formula allocation—and the school will receive the higher of the two. The Financing of Maintained School Regulations 2002 have been amended to ensure that sixth forms funded through the LSC formula see some benefit. Schools should gain a minimum of one third of the potential benefit from the LSC's allocations for 2002–03. We intend to amend the regulations further for 2003–04 to ensure that such schools have a minimum two-thirds gain in that year.
Teachers' Pension Scheme
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) active members, (b) premature retirements, (c) ill-health retirements and (d) age retirements there were from the Teachers' Pension Scheme in each of the last 10 years. [47366]
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Mr. Timms: The information requested is provided in the following table. Data on active members are obtained from returns submitted by employers. Not all returns have
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yet been received in respect of 2000–01. Data relating to numbers of retirements have been provided by the scheme administrators.
| Financial year | Active members | Premature retirements | Ill health retirements | Actuarially reduced benefits | Age retirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92 | 535,400 | 10,300 | 4,700 | — | 4,400 |
| 1992–93 | 532,100 | 12,200 | 4,900 | — | 4,400 |
| 1993–94 | 539,200 | 12,200 | 5,600 | — | 4,500 |
| 1994–95 | 550,300 | 10,600 | 6,100 | — | 4,600 |
| 1995–96 | 563,200 | 13,100 | 6,000 | — | 4,500 |
| 1996–97 | 557,800 | 16,000 | 6,300 | — | 4,500 |
| 1997–98 | 561,600 | 19,100 | 4,100 | — | 4,900 |
| 1998–99 | 570,600 | 2,900 | 2,700 | — | 5,300 |
| 1999–2000 | 575,700 | 3,100 | 2,700 | — | 5,900 |
| 2000–01 | (48)— | 3,100 | 3,000 | 900 | 6,100 |
(48) Not yet available
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the contribution rate for teachers' employers will, following the next quinquennial review of the scheme by the Government Actuary, be based on a valuation that includes increases in pensions. [47368]
Mr. Timms: The valuation of the scheme currently being conducted by the Government Actuary, and future valuations, will include the cost of providing annual increases to pensions in payment.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the impact of increased salary costs of teachers on the required contribution rate for the Teachers' Pension Scheme. [47367]
Mr. Timms: In determining the required contribution rate at each actuarial review, the Government Actuary allows for future increases in salaries arising from general salary inflation and from promotion or scale increments. Details of the most recent assumptions are included in the Government Actuary's report on the actuarial review as at 31 March 1996. The actuarial review as at 31 March 2001 will reflect increases in salaries and the extent to which they differ from the assumed increases at the 1996 review. I expect to have the Government Actuary's report on the 2001 review by the end of this year.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the funds held by the Teacher Superannuation Fund, broken down by (a) asset type and (b) share holdings. [47751]
Mr. Timms: The Teachers' Pension Scheme is an unfunded scheme. There are, therefore, no assets or shareholdings.
School Exclusions
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money was spent by her Department in pursuing legal action against children who have been (a) temporarily and (b) permanently excluded from school for each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [47742]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: None. My Department does not pursue legal action against children who have been excluded from school.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) temporary and (b) permanent exclusions were made by (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [47483]
Mr. Timms: A table showing the available information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Information on fixed term (temporary) exclusions in not collected centrally.
Information on permanent exclusions is collected only from maintained primary and secondary schools and special schools.
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