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Speech Therapy Services
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance she has given to schools and local education authorities about gaining access to speech therapy services for children with relevant special education needs. [51054]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 18 April 2002]: Access to speech and language therapy services is covered in Chapter 8 of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice, published by the Department in November 2001. There is also a booklet on the role of health professionals in the SEN Toolkit which issued alongside the code.
Under the SEN category of the Standards Fund, grant support is available to all English local education authorities to enhance speech and language therapy services in conjunction with the NHS and voluntary sector. Such support was recommended in the report of
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the working group on the provision of speech and language therapy services to children with SEN, published in November 2000.
Education Act
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which children are not treated as part of the population of a local authority area for the purposes of section 13 of the Education Act 1996. [51175]
Mr. Timms: Section 13 of the Education Act 1996 (the 1996 Act) sets out the general responsibility of the local education authority to provide primary, secondary and further education to meet the needs of the population of the area concerned, exclusive of the duties of further and higher education funding councils. This section applies to all children in the area of the local authority concerned, except that none of the LEA's duties under the 1996 Act applies in respect of any person who is in custody because of a court order or an order of recall made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
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School Standards and Framework Act
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which children are not included as being part of a local education authority's area, for the purposes of section 118 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, other than those described in subsections 118(1)(a) and (b). [51177]
Mr. Timms: Section 118 of the School Standards and Framework Act sets out the duty of the local education authority (LEA) in respect of nursery education. It imposes a duty on the LEA to secure that sufficient nursery education for children who have not attained compulsory school age is provided for their area, whether or not by the LEA. However, section 562 of the Education Act 1996 provides that none of the LEA's duties under that Act are to apply in respect of any person in custody because of a court order or because of an order of recall made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
Performance Targets
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what performance indicators and targets local education authorities are expected to agree with her Department for (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03, showing the period covered by the target or indicator and the date by which agreement should be achieved. [51295]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 19 April 2002]: LEAs agree targets with my Department through their Education Development Plans. LEAs were required to submit the second generation of EDPs in January. I approved the majority of plans at the end of March. There are a small number of authorities that have yet to receive approval for their plan from their councils, all council approval is expected by the beginning of June. The targets in the EDPs are for the academic years 2002–03 and 2003–04 and were set for:
- Key Stage 2 literacy and numeracy at level 4 and above and level 5 and above
Key Stage 3 English, maths, science and ICT at level 5 and above
Key Stage 4 percentage to achieve five or more GCSE A-C, percentage to achieve five or more GCSE at A-G including English and maths, average point score per pupil
Key Stage 4 children leaving care at 16+ to achieve five or more GCSE at AC and children leaving care with one or more GCSE at A-G
Attendance targets for primary, secondary and special schools
KS2, KS3 and GCSE/GNVQ actual and target performances for minority ethnic groups.
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what are (a) the agreed performance targets for (i) unauthorised absence, (ii) exclusions, (iii) key stage 2 tests, (iv) GCSEs and (v) A-levels and (b) the performance against those targets, for each local education authority in London in the most recent year for which information is available. [51296]
Mr. Timms [holding answer 19 April 2002]: Performance targets for unauthorised absence, exclusions, key stage 2 tests and GCSEs were agreed by London
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Education Authorities in their Education Development Plans covering school years 1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02.
Performance targets for key stage 2 tests and GCSEs were agreed by London Education Authorities in their Education Development Plans covering the school years 2002 to 2007. LEAs were not required to agree exclusion targets for 2003 onwards, and absence targets have been altered to include authorised absence figures as well as unauthorised absence figures.
The latest information on these targets together with the performance results for the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 have been placed in the Library.
Local education authorities do not agree A-Level performance targets.
Student Transport
Mr. Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who is responsible for providing funding for transport for post-16 students in Essex; and how much funding is being provided for transport for post-16 students in Essex in the current academic year. [51299]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Essex local education authority has a duty to provide and fund transport support for its post-16 students, where the Authority assesses that this is necessary under Section 509 of the 1966 Education Act.
Account is taken of transport costs in calculating the Revenue Support Grant, however, there is no specific grant. Local education authorities (LEAs) and colleges also receive Learner Support Funds to help with the costs of student support, including transport.
In 2001–02, Essex local education authority planned to spend £1.5 million on transport for students aged-16 and over. Additionally, a further £880,000 was planned to support students with special needs.
Sixth Form Funding
Mr. Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress her Department has made on equalising funding for sixth form funding for schools and colleges. [51301]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We are making a substantial investment in FE. We are putting an extra £237 million into the sector in 2002–03 alone, a 3 per cent. real terms increase. Total funding per student has gone up by 16 per cent. in real terms since 1997. For the academic year 2002–03 the Learning and Skills Council is raising its funding rates for courses delivered by FE sector colleges by 2.5 per cent. in cash terms, the highest increase for years. The Government remains committed to bringing up the level of funding for colleges towards that of schools. We are looking to the current spending review to secure the resources colleges need to deliver our ambitious agenda for FE, and thereby to bring up funding levels.
Community Champions Funds
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what awards have been made under the Community Champions Funds to projects in (a) the
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Buckingham constituency, (b) Buckinghamshire and (c) England, indicating the (i) date of award, (ii) amount awarded and (iii) details of the project in each case. [51383]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: To date, in excess of 3,500 individuals and small community groups have been awarded grants by the Community Champions Fund. Grants of up to £2,000 have been awarded in all English regions. The total amount awarded by the Community Champions Fund since 1999 is £4.5 million.
During the lifetime of the Community Champions Fund, only one application for funding has been received from Buckinghamshire. This was supported with a grant of £1,710. The project, known as SKIDZ, is focused on the Black and Minority Ethnic young people and their parents in the region. It encourages support for community education and capitalises on young people's interest in motor vehicles in order to do this.
Teacher Trainees
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher trainees are enrolled on (a) part-time PGCE courses and (b) school centred initial teacher training [51590]
Mr. Timms: In 2001–02, 827 new entrant and continuing teacher trainees enrolled on part-time PGCE courses in England. 1,213 trainees entered courses based in School Centred Initial Teacher Training.
The figures include forecast recruitment to courses starting in the spring and summer 2002 terms.
- Source:
- 2001 Teacher Training Agency ITT Trainee Numbers Census.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher trainees are enrolled in two-year full-time subject conversion PGCE courses; and how many of these trainees are in their second year. [51591]
Mr. Timms: In 2001–02, 844 trainees enrolled on two-year, full-time, PGCE courses in England. Of those, 351 are on the second year of their course.
The figures include forecast recruitment to courses starting in the spring and summer 2002 terms.
- Source:
- 2001 Teacher Training Agency ITT Trainee Numbers Census.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher trainees are enrolled in flexible postgraduate teacher training provision. [51596]
Mr. Timms: In 2001–02, 1,764 new entrant and continuing teacher trainees enrolled on flexible Postgraduate Initial Teacher Training (PGCE) courses in England.
The numbers include forecast recruitment to courses starting in the spring and summer 2002 terms.
- Source:
- 2001 Teacher Training Agency ITT Trainee Numbers Census.
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