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Secondary Teachers
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the number of secondary teachers that will be needed in schools in England in 2005. [51628]
Mr. Timms: Head teachers and governing bodies are best placed to decide on their schools' staffing requirements in the light of local circumstances and the available resources. For their part, the Government are working to improve the overall total number of teachers available for appointment and to increase the funding available to schools to pay for them.
Between January 1997 and January 2001, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers working in the maintained schools sector in England rose by 10,990. Of those, 7,250 were employed in secondary schools. The Government have pledged to secure a further increase for the maintained sector of at least 10,000 regular teachers by 2006. The proposals to make more creative use of school support staff that my right hon. Friend described in her speech to the Social Market Foundation on 12 November will help to ensure that schools are able to use these teachers' professional skills to maximum effect.
Education Policy Costs
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the cost in (a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02 of the (i) National Literacy Strategy and (ii) National Numeracy Strategy. [51592]
Mr. Timms: The following funding has been allocated through the Standards Fund to support the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies.
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| National Literacy Strategy | |
| 2001–02 | 88 |
| 2001–03 | 103 |
| National Numeracy Strategy | |
| 2001–02 | 98 |
| 2001–03 | 103 |
School Violence
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many physical assaults by pupils on other pupils occurred in (a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) special and (d) all schools in England in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [51594]
Mr. Timms: This information is not available centrally.
LORD CHANCELLOR'S DEPARTMENT
Gender Pay Gap
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what assessment she has made of the extent of the gender pay gap among staff in his Department. [41008]
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Ms Rosie Winterton: This answer covers the Headquarters of the Lord Chancellor's Department, (including Associated Office), the Court Service and Public Guardianship Office.
The Department is currently undertaking an equality audit of pay and pay related systems in partnership with the trade unions. Once data have been analysed a formal action plan will be drawn up to address any unfair imbalances between groups created as a result of existing policy. Plans for on-going monitoring of the pay and appraisal systems will be formulated following the initial report and action plan. This Equal Pay audit will in addition cover the areas of ethnicity, disability and working hours.
The new pay and performance management arrangements for members of the Senior Civil Service will also be subject to equality monitoring.
Private Finance Initiative
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Private Finance Initiative projects have been subject to refinancing after the contracts have been signed; and what has been the financial effect in each case. [50280]
Mr. Wills: None of the Lord Chancellor's Department's PFI contracts have been subject to refinancing.
PFI/PPPs
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will list the (a) private finance initiative and (b) public private partnership projects which have been delayed. [44883]
Mr. Wills: Contract signature was delayed on the following private finance initiative (PFI) projects:
- CCS;
ARAMIS;
Libra;
Probate Records Centre;
Hereford and Worcester magistrates' courts;
Humberside magistrates' courts;
Manchester magistrates' court; and
Derbyshire magistrates' courts.
Contract signature has also been delayed on the following PFI projects which are still in procurement:
Sheffield Family Hearing Court;
East Anglia Scheme;
Exeter Combined Court;
Avon and Somerset magistrates' courts; and
Bedford magistrates' court.
A project has been treated as delayed where contract signature has not been achieved by the date that was expected when the project was advertised in the Official Journal of the European Community.
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Immigration Tribunal
Mr. Vaz: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when she last visited the Immigration Tribunal. [50700]
Ms Rosie Winterton: I visited the Immigration Appellate Authority in Leeds on 26 September 2001; Taylor House in London on 25 October 2001 and intend to visit Hatton Cross in the near future.
Departmental Report
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the 2002 departmental report will be published. [49582]
Mr. Wills: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 15 April 2002, Official Report, column 774W, by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Andrew Smith).
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
Civil Service (Recruitment)
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the percentage of successful applicants to the Civil Service Selection Board who were educated at (a) public school, (b) Oxford University and (c) Cambridge University in each year since 1997. [50571]
Mr. Leslie: The Civil Service Selection Board does not record the schools that Fast Stream applicants have attended. Annex D of the annually published Fast Stream Recruitment Report provides an analysis by university of first degree of candidates each year. This data shows that the percentages of successful applicants who were educated at Oxford and Cambridge universities were as follows:
| Oxford | Cambridge | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 18.4 | 15.9 |
| 1998 | 17.4 | 17.0 |
| 1999 | 14.1 | 16.0 |
| 2000 | 17.8 | 14.3 |
Government Services
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to co-locate Government services in locations accessible to (a) parents of young children, (b) old people and (c) those without access to a private motor car. [49798]
Mr. Leslie: Electronic delivery of Government services provides the opportunity to bring them together in a convenient way for users, particularly those who find travel difficult. Over half of Government services are already available online, and all will be by 2005.
The citizen portal at ukonline.gov.uk provides comprehensive information and online services tailored to specific groups of users, including parents and older people, from a single website address. In addition, to assist people who do not have Internet access at home,
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the Government is rolling out a national network of over 6,000 UK online centres providing convenient access in the local community.
Furthermore, ukonline.gov.uk will be available through a number of different channels—the first being digital television. A pilot of this, which commenced on 10 April this year, aims to bring Government information and services to those who would prefer to interact with the Government via a television rather than a PC.
Civil Contingencies Secretarial
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when the Civil Contingencies Secretariat comprehensive review of the country's plans for dealing with emergencies will be published. [49828]
Mr. Leslie: The Civil Contingencies Secretariat's review of the country's plans for dealing with emergencies is a continuing exercise whose findings are regularly reported to the Cabinet's Civil Contingencies Committee and its three sub committees. Generally, and in accordance with long-standing convention, these plans are not made public.
However, the responses to the Emergency Planning Review and a summary of these responses by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, have been placed in the Library of the House and placed on the website "www.ukresilience.info".
Non-departmental Public Bodies
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the cost in 2001–02 was of the pay increase to staff in his Department, agencies and the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible; and what the cost of the forthcoming increase will be in 2002–03. [50406]
Mr. Leslie: The Cabinet Office, the Government Offices, the Central Office of Information, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Government Car and Dispatch Agency all have separate delegated authorities over pay. The estimate of the cost of the pay increase at the time of the settlement for 2001–02 is presented in the table. The estimate of the cost for 2002–03 for the Equal Opportunities Commission is also presented. Costs for the other organisations cannot be given for 2002–03 because the pay increases have yet to be agreed.
| 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinet Office(6) | 2.2 | — |
| Government Offices(6) | 2.6 | — |
| Central Office of Information(6) | 0.7 | — |
| Government Car and Dispatch Agency(7) | 0.3 | — |
| Equal Opportunities Commission(8) | 0.2 | 0.2 |
(6) Refers to settlement year 1 August to 31 July.
(7) Refers to settlement year 1 April to 31 March and excludes non-industrial staff.
(8) Refers to settlement year 1 April to 31 March.
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