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Teachers' Pay

Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average pay is for teachers in (a) Staffordshire and (b) inner London. [47965]

Mr. Timms: The average salaries of regular full time teachers in the maintained schools sector at 31 March 2000 were as follows. This is the latest date for which provisional data are available.

	£
Staffordshire LEA	25,000
Inner London LEAs	28,200

Teacher Training Council

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) meetings and (b) communications there have been between her Department and the Teacher Training Council in each year since 1997. [48255]

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Mr. Timms: Ministers and officials in this Department communicate regularly and have frequent formal and informal meetings with the Teacher Training Agency (TTA). The Department does not keep a central record of all meetings and communications. Key meetings include six TTA board meetings a year and quarterly meetings on audit and accreditation matters. Regular contacts and communications take place to ensure that TTA programmes are planned, managed and delivered effectively and in line with the Government's objectives.

Teacher Qualifications

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of teachers in England in secondary schools hold a (a) masters and (b) PhD in the subject area they are qualified to teach. [48276]

Mr. Timms: This information is not collected centrally.

Teachers (Age)

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of teachers in

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England employed in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools are (i) under and including the age of 35 and (ii) over the age of 35 years. [48275]

Mr. Timms: The proportions of teachers in regular full or part-time service in the maintained schools sector in England at 31 March 2000 (the latest date for which provisional data are available) who were under or over the age of 35 years were as follows:

Percentage

	35 and under	Over 35
Nursery/Primary	33	67
Secondary	29	71

Some 10 to 20 per cent. of part-timers are not recorded on the Teachers' Pension Scheme, from which the data are obtained.

Free School Meals

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils at (a) primary and (b) secondary level qualified for free school meals in each of the last seven years. [48223]

Mr. Timms: The available information is shown in the table.

Pupils eligible for free school meals in maintained primary and secondary schools in England—day pupils⁽⁵⁴⁾

	Number known to be eligible for free school meals	Number on roll	Percentage known to be eligible for free school meals
Primary
1995	956,497	4,312,072	22.2
1996	974,281	4,389,311	22.2
1997	938,542	4,428,616	21.2
1998	886,069	4,460,128	19.9
1999	848,173	4,460,171	19.0
2000	816,994	4,435,343	18.4
2001	779,307	4,406,187	17.7
Secondary
1995	539,438	2,988,954	18.0
1996	550,902	3,006,938	18.3
1997	552,903	3,036,994	18.2
1998	537,073	3,069,029	17.5
1999	527,339	3,118,277	16.9
2000	523,630	3,177,998	16.5
2001	509,676	3,226,973	15.8

⁽⁵⁴⁾ Excludes boarding pupils

Source:

Annual Schools' Census

Teaching Assistants

Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action she is taking to put in place a career structure for teaching assistants; and if she will make a statement. [48296]

Mr. Timms: Developments in the roles of teaching assistants, including a career structure based on training, skills, experience and qualifications, are currently being considered by a working party which includes representatives of teachers and support staff, the local government employers and other government bodies. National Vocational Qualifications, based on the new

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National Occupational Standards for Teaching Assistants, are expected to be in place later this year and will form part of the proposed career structure.

Convent of Jesus and Mary High School

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the targets agreed by Convent of Jesus and Mary high school by Brent LEA at the time of its acquisition of specialist status identifying any not yet achieved. [48267]

Mr. Timms: The Convent of Jesus and Mary high school has been operating as a Language College since September 1996. The information requested is being collated. I will therefore write to the hon. Member shortly giving a full reply to the question raised.

Careers Guidance

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action she is taking to ensure continuing universal availability of careers information, advice and guidance. [47879]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Through the Connexions Service, all young people aged 13–19 will have access to a Connexions Personal Adviser (PA). One of the key roles of a PA is to provide independent information, advice and guidance on learning and career options. This can be delivered in class or small group settings, or through one-to-one interviews, depending on the young person's needs. The Connexions Service is now operating in 25 (out of a total of 47) Partnership areas and will be rolled-out nationally by 2003.

Television Licences

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the (a) number and (b) total cost of television licences paid for by her Department. [48336]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: In line with Government policy my Department, like others, has Crown immunity and is exempt from the need to purchase television licenses for televisions which are used for official use. All of the televisions which are in use on my headquarter buildings are for official use only.

Schooling Costs

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the average annual cost of schooling for an individual student taking three A-levels at (a) an English maintained secondary school and (b) an English maintained sixth form college. [48244]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The figures for school and college funding have not been calculated on the same basis and cannot therefore be used to make comparisons. The FE unit funding figure includes total public funding allocated for further education, while the schools' figure does not. It is based only on delegated funds and excludes other funding the school receives centrally from LEAs which impacts on post-16 students.

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The latest estimate of the average delegated funding per sixth form student in schools per year for 2001–02 is £3,330. The total funding per full time equivalent student in FE sector colleges per year for 2001–02 is £3,660. Separate figures for sixth form colleges are not available.

Vacant Teaching Posts

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacant (a) deputy head teacher, (b) head teacher and (c) teacher posts existed in (i) primary schools, (ii) secondary schools and (iii) special schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [47505]

Mr. Timms: The deputy head teacher, head teacher and classroom teacher vacancies in maintained nursery/ primary, secondary and special schools by local education authority ¹ in January of each year since 1997 has been placed in the Libraries.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will take steps to improve the response time to parliamentary questions. [47717]

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development endeavours to answer all parliamentary questions in a timely manner. As the hon. Member will be aware there has been a sharp increase in the number of parliamentary questions in the current session and we will continue to aim to answer all questions as quickly and accurately as possible.

Entertainment Costs

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list for 1997–98 and for each subsequent financial year, including the current year to date, the amount spent by (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies on (i) food and (ii) alcohol, indicating how much was spent on guests, and how much in respect of (A) Ministers and (B) staff, broken down to show how much was provided directly by her Department and how much reclaimed. [34461]

Hilary Benn: This information is not held centrally and could be made available only at a disproportionate cost.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list for 1997–98 and each subsequent financial year the amount spent by (a) her Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non- departmental public bodies in respect of hotel and other similar privately-provided accommodation (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad for (A) Ministers, (B) staff and (C) other persons; if she will list the proportion of this cost incurred in respect of (x) food and (y) alcohol in each case; and if she will list the average cost per hotel room or similar unit of accommodation provided in each case. [34386]

Hilary Benn: This information is not held centrally and could be made available only at a disproportionate cost.

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