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Parenting
Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make it her policy to require children to declare that they have received parental support on the cover sheet of public examinations. [62857]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The awarding bodies already require teachers to confirm that they have taken steps to satisfy themselves that coursework assessed for public examinations is solely that of the candidates concerned. Teachers must present a written declaration that a candidate's coursework was produced under the required conditions.
Schools (Community Cohesion)
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she plans to publish for consultation her draft guidance to school organisation committees on the effect of proposals for new schools on community cohesion. [62840]
Mr. Miliband: We plan to consult on draft guidance to school organisation committees, which will include guidance on community cohesion from July this year.
19 Jun 2002 : Column 365W
Voluntary Schools
Mr. Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements are made for the transfer of assets, land and buildings, when voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools close. [62842]
Mr. Miliband: The normal pattern of property ownership at a voluntary aided or voluntary controlled school is for the trustees to own the site and buildings and for the local education authority to own the playing fields. When a voluntary aided or voluntary controlled school closes, the playing fields remain the property of the local education authority but what happens to the site and buildings depends on the type of school and the circumstances of the closure.
When a church voluntary school which is located on its original site closes, the Secretary of State may be asked to make an order under section 554 of the Education Act 1996, which allows the diocese in which the school is situated to use proceeds from the sale for the benefit of other church schools within its area.
However, where a local education authority has provided new or additional premises for a voluntary school, the local education authority may later claim compensation from the proceeds of sale of the former premises. If the local education authority and the trustees are unable to reach agreement on the amount of compensation the local education authority should receive, the Secretary of State may be asked to determine the amount.
Where the trustees of a voluntary school have given notice to terminate the school's occupation of any land, the Secretary of State may require the trustees to repay to the Department any funds it has provided, or to transfer to the local education authority any part of the premises it needs for educational purposes. The Secretary of State may require the local education authority to pay compensation to the trustees, or vice versa, depending on whether she has ordered land to be transferred to the local education authority, and on the extent of any public expenditure on the premises.
School Sports
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many specialist sports schools there are in (a) England and (b) each local education authority. [62982]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 17 June 2002]: The total number of schools designated as specialist sports colleges in England is 142. The table shows the number of specialist sports colleges in each local education authority.
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Mr. Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many schools hold annual sports days in the (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) North East and (c) UK; and how this figure has changed over the last 11 years; [61272]
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(3) how many hours per week schools are (a) required and (b) encouraged to devote to physical education and sports for pupils. [61274]
Mr. Miliband: The Department for Education and Skills does not collect figures on the number of schools which hold sports days. School sports days have an important role to play as part of an overall package of PE and sport opportunities provided by schools for all children. Work being undertaken by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority suggests that the vast majority of schools do hold an annual sports day or a similar event.
Physical education is compulsory within the National Curriculum at all Key Stages for all pupils. Schools must provide PE in accordance with the subject's programme of study. Guidance on Key Stage 3, published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Department for Education and Skills, indicates that the programme of study could be delivered within 90 minutes. Our White Paper "Schools: achieving success" includes a commitment that all children will be entitled to two hours of high quality physical education and school sport a week, within and outside the curriculum.
The school sports co-ordinators programme brings together partnerships of schools. These are championing new PE and sport opportunities for young people. One of the key aims is to increase the amount of inter and intra-school sport which does, of course include schools sport days, both within school and with other partner schools.
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