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School Absences

Mrs. Laing: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the number of half days missed through authorised absence in (i) primary schools and (ii) secondary schools; and if she will make a statement. [48262]

Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The Department's analytical section provides analysis of all absence data collected by the Department. A statistical bulletin was published in December 2001 and is available on the DfES website. Authorised absence accounts for nearly 90 per cent. of all school time missed and therefore can be as much a barrier to improving school standards as unauthorised absence.

In addition, the Department has commissioned a research project on the causes of absence from school. This project will interview children, parents and teachers about the cause of absence and will report in the autumn.

Swimming Advisory Group

Valerie Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Swimming Advisory Group has completed its work; and when a report will be made. [48058]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Swimming Advisory Group has completed its work and its report is now under consideration within the Department for Education and Skills.

Public Bodies

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many bodies receive some or all

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of their funding from her Department; how much funding was received by each body in each year since 1997; and who the chief executive of each body was. [47748]

Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 10 April 2002]: The information cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

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 the five largest PFI contracts let by her Department in each of the last four years; and if she will make a statement. [45601]

Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 25 March 2002]: My Department has only one PFI contract, which is with Capita, to deliver the Connexions Card project. The final contract price was £109.7 million over seven years. The details of the various bidding stages during contractual negotiations are commercial in confidence and in terms of Part II of the code of practice on access to Government information are exempt from disclosure.

Individual Learning Accounts

Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on progress with the investigations into abuses of the Individual Learning Account scheme; and in how many cases money has been recovered from ILA providers who abused the scheme. [48254]

John Healey [holding answer 10 April 2002]: In respect of current investigations, 117 learning providers have been passed to the Department's Special Investigations Unit (SIU). Following detailed SIU work, 80 of these have been referred to nine different police forces: Cheshire, City of London, Cumbria, Dorset, Kent, Leicestershire, Metropolitan, National Crime Squad and West Midlands and the SIU are discussing a further 16 with the police. To date police have made 45 arrests that have resulted in 8 accepting cautions and charges being brought against 13 individuals, 12 of whom are awaiting court appearances and one person has been convicted.

A total of £4.47 million of payments are withheld from the 80 providers referred to the police and the 16 SIU are discussing with the police.

Ethnic Minority Funding

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding has been given by her Department for section 11 funding for schools in each Inner London borough in the last year. [48683]

Mr. Timms: The education element of the Home Office's Section 11 Grant scheme ceased on 31 March 1999. It was replaced with the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant, which is administered by my

16 Apr 2002 : Column 895W

Department. For 2002–03 £155,862,368 is available nationally to improve attainment of minority ethnic pupils. The amounts allocated to London boroughs are set out.

Ethnic minority achievement grant

LEA	£
Corporation of London	107,415
Camden	2,931,900
Greenwich	1,912,505
Hackney	4,299,222
Hammersmith & Fulham	1,202,577
Islington	2,529,175
Kensington & Chelsea	1,164,506
Lambeth	3,402,055
Lewisham	2,698,457
Southwark	2,053,869
Tower Hamlets	8,044,136
Wandsworth	2,332,179
Westminster	2,136,538
Barking	634,870
Barnet	1,913,572
Bexley	273,969
Brent	2,991,961
Bromley	112,808
Croydon	2,107,095
Ealing	3,701,735
Enfield	2,476,533
Haringey	3,599,985
Harrow	1,263,821
Havering	109,926
Hillingdon	792,240
Hounslow	2,360,138
Kingston Upon Thames	312,690
Merton	989,608
Newham	3,333,858
Redbridge	2,417,966
Richmond Upon Thames	142,621
Sutton	229,067
Waltham Forest	2,557,579

Note:

All figures include both DfES grant and LEA Contribution

16 Apr 2002 : Column 896W

English Teaching

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what grant aid has been paid to each local education authority in each of the last five years to assist in the teaching of English to ethnic minority pupils. [48753]

Mr. Timms: My Department provides additional ring-fenced support to raise the achievement of ethnic minority pupils and meet the needs of those for whom English is an additional language through the Ethnic Minority Achievement (EMAG) strand of the standards fund. EMAG replaced the education element of the Home Office's Section 11 grant scheme in April 1999. Individual programme allocations for each authority for each year from 1999–2000 to 2001–02 are as follows:

£

		Total allocation
LEA number	LEA	1999–2000	2000–01(31)	2001–02
201	Corporation of London	108,500	107,415	107,415
202	Camden	2,931,900	3,102,868	2,931,900
203	Greenwich	1,783,616	1,866,510	1,912,505
204	Hackney	4,299,222	4,442,766	4,299,222
205	Hammersmith and Fulham	940,880	1,189,642	1,202,577
206	Islington	2,529,175	2,529,175	2,529,175
207	Kensington and Chelsea	1,177,506	1,219,975	1,164,506
208	Lambeth	3,436,055	3,603,405	3,402,055
209	Lewisham	2,211,561	2,543,947	2,698,457
210	Southwark	1,431,818	1,910,192	2,053,869
211	Tower Hamlets	8,125,390	8,095,454	8,044,136
212	Wandsworth	1,912,879	2,163,323	2,332,179
213	Westminster	2,151,538	2,136,538	2,136,538
301	Barking	662,475	672,625	634,870
302	Barnet	1,459,113	1,190,476	1,913,572
303	Bexley	179,781	313,705	273,969
304	Brent	2,370,904	2,804,240	2,991,961
305	Bromley	51,161	166,547	112,808
306	Croydon	2,032,254	2,163,023	2,107,095
307	Ealing	2,949,203	3,556,921	3,701,735
308	Enfield	2,293,602	2,357,497	2,476,533
309	Haringey	3,337,039	3,526,622	3,599,985
310	Harrow	863,751	1,214,881	1,263,821
311	Havering	75,640	131,090	109,926
312	Hillingdon	629,631	872,091	792,240
313	Hounslow	1,829,207	2,279,528	2,360,138
314	Kingston upon Thames	222,389	309,329	312,690
315	Merton	803,895	913,930	989,608
316	Newham	253,058	1,038,976	1,410,781
317	Redbridge	1,965,442	2,228,929	2,417,966
318	Richmond upon Thames	76,785	164,041	142,621
319	Sutton	151,345	301,005	229,067
320	Waltham Forest	2,054,111	2,426,419	2,557,579
330	Birmingham	5,908,043	7,288,725	8,211,164
331	Coventry	3,208,635	3,208,635	3,208,635
332	Dudley	1,679,723	1,679,723	1,679,723
333	Sandwell	331,689	1,594,539	1,736,068
334	Solihull	—	73,120	39,978
335	Walsall	1,962,120	1,962,120	1,962,120
336	Wolverhampton	2,498,696	3,566,228	2,498,696
340	Knowsley	—	4,002	6,760
341	Liverpool	444,014	519,083	573,262
342	St. Helens	27,343	86,914	34,064
343	Sefton	—	79,841	13,525
344	Wirral	—	12,340	20,631
350	Bolton	938,052	1,147,765	1,052,062
351	Bury	487,320	539,266	487,320
352	Manchester	2,988,148	3,305,363	3,013,363
353	Oldham	2,423,068	2,423,934	2,403,068
354	Rochdale	1,490,703	1,608,763	1,490,703
355	Salford	94,732	206,052	125,078
356	Stockport	114,892	103,080	120,653
357	Tameside	531,905	646,649	531,905
358	Trafford	421,131	518,210	523,308
359	Wigan	121,503	243,818	121,503
370	Barnsley	—	81,322	11,316
371	Doncaster	139,870	324,711	174,730
372	Rotherham	628,345	667,136	628,345
373	Sheffield	1,870,859	2,018,222	1,870,859
380	Bradford	7,569,000	7,788,980	7,569,000
381	Calderdale	1,150,746	1,150,746	1,150,746
382	Kirklees	4,152,833	4,187,568	4,152,833
383	Leeds	1,186,136	1,704,706	1,512,802
384	Wakefield	474,288	563,667	474,288
390	Gateshead	54,404	128,279	65,549
391	Newcastle upon Tyne	504,213	600,263	613,453
392	North Tyneside	155,504	198,051	161,012
393	South Tyneside	208,885	208,885	208,885
394	Sunderland	128,867	194,214	144,208
420	Isles Of Scilly	—	0	63
800	Bath and North East Somerset	—	45,686	51,622
801	Bristol	1,126,875	1,036,269	1,036,269
802	North Somerset	—	14,479	18,253
803	South Gloucestershire	—	404,142	44,911
805	Hartlepool	23,221	23,722	25,807
806	Middlesbrough	459,107	612,787	454,607
807	Redcar and Cleveland	45,820	45,320	45,320
808	Stockton-on-Tees	197,972	195,418	195,418
810	Kingston-upon-Hull	51,694	52,791	60,019
811	East Riding of Yorkshire	—	387,330	19,690
812	North East Lincolnshire	43,476	43,476	43,476
813	North Lincolnshire	281,121	281,121	281,121
815	North Yorkshire	72,456	174,580	43,963
816	York	—	146,838	58,901
820	Bedfordshire	1,018,635	1,227,363	1,018,635
821	Luton	2,215,052	2,287,952	2,188,832
825	Buckinghamshire	1,594,891	1,803,612	1,594,891
826	Milton Keynes	384,562	480,419	467,667
830	Derbyshire	—	107,991	121,568
831	Derby City	1,741,890	1,911,083	1,653,054
835	Dorset	—	65,534	26,415
836	Poole	48,708	67,272	22,098
837	Bournemouth	—	24,909	31,284
840	Durham	—	336,146	92,529
841	Darlington	191,074	114,645	114,645
845	East Sussex	149,209	334,931	180,666
846	Brighton and Hove	247,270	247,270	247,270
850	Hampshire	177,125	397,838	250,513
851	Portsmouth	217,491	217,491	217,491
852	Southampton	483,237	483,237	483,237
855	Leicestershire	634,726	1,048,455	811,986
856	Leicester City	3,255,001	3,645,064	3,645,064
857	Rutland	—	0	1,630
860	Staffordshire	490,666	490,666	528,985
861	Stoke-on-Trent	614,112	614,112	614,112
865	Wiltshire	—	280,985	89,375
866	Swindon	178,352	128,473	142,712
867	Bracknell Forest	—	18,058	23,219
868	Windsor and Maidenhead	242,142	281,552	307,795
869	West Berkshire	—	20,692	26,541
870	Reading	503,353	480,975	480,975
871	Slough	1,084,527	1,238,694	1,344,916
872	Wokingham	25,109	297,927	72,947
873	Cambridgeshire	461,390	889,509	456,390
874	Peterborough	1,008,312	1,084,212	981,212
875	Cheshire	—	280,000	35,384
876	Halton	—	0	4,175
877	Warrington	110,886	108,886	108,886
878	Devon	17,597	325,827	36,839
879	Plymouth	108,390	108,390	108,390
880	Torbay	—	3,563	6,159
881	Essex	10,658	548,237	124,623
882	Southend-on-Sea	—	17,583	31,111
883	Thurrock	51,146	133,954	72,670
884	Herefordshire	—	2,019	3,480
885	Worcestershire	374,099	374,099	374,099
886	Kent	1,824,159	2,459,221	1,824,159
887	Medway	456,320	343,320	343,320
888	Lancashire	4,134,560	4,506,176	4,134,560
889	Blackburn with Darwen	2,069,706	2,069,706	2,069,706
890	Blackpool	—	5,176	8,491
891	Nottinghamshire	176,832	362,633	267,267
892	Nottingham City	1,989,797	2,004,797	1,973,797
893	Shropshire	—	35,230	39,608
894	Telford and Wrekin	216,498	211,140	228,496
908	Cornwall	—	124,501	10,843
909	Cumbria	—	86,920	12,900
916	Gloucestershire	329,641	534,935	361,118
919	Hertfordshire	2,272,207	2,841,259	2,272,207
921	Isle Of Wight	—	0	4,168
925	Lincolnshire	124,699	369,384	153,817
926	Norfolk	317,925	679,779	305,925
928	Northamptonshire	837,562	1,139,918	837,562
929	Northumberland	—	89,118	12,271
931	Oxfordshire	690,665	1,188,472	742,282
933	Somerset	94,353	246,840	94,353
935	Suffolk	357,869	519,886	356,984
936	Surrey	433,308	886,970	596,398
937	Warwickshire	1,498,412	1,498,412	1,498,412
938	West Sussex	312,228	571,061	430,072
	England Total	139,274,586	162,946,443	153,907,740

⁽³¹⁾ For 2000–01 Ethnic Minority Achievement grant was combined with Traveller Achievement grant. It is not possible to disaggregate the figures for each.

Note:

All figures include both DfES grant and LEA contribution

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