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British Transport Police

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has held with the Home Secretary about the future deployment of the British Transport Police; and if he will make a statement. [65741]

Mr. Jamieson: The deployment of the British Transport Police (BTP) is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. My right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Transport and the Home Secretary have agreed to provide central funds of £1.36 million to the BTP to support their participation in the Street Crime Initiative in London. This funding will enable the BTP to procure additional officers and equipment so that they can maximise their contribution to the initiative by targeting street crime in and around London's tube and rail network.

TREASURY

Refrigerators

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when Her Majesty's Customs and Excise first stopped the export of second-hand fridges in response to the European Regulation; when it lifted that ban, and why; when it restored it; and what the total value was of second-hand fridges exported in (a) 1999, (b) 2000 and (c) 2001. [62609]

John Healey [holding answer 17 June 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 13 March, Official Report, column 1107W. Customs statistics do not separately identify the value of second hand fridges exported.

Financial Ombudsman

Mr. Wyatt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what power the financial ombudsman has to (a) impose and (b) collect fines from recalcitrant companies and individuals found guilty of selling incorrect policies. [65592]

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Ombudsman Service deals with complaints against financial services firms. It does not impose fines but where it decides a complaint against a firm, it can require the firm to make good the complainant's losses. The Financial Services Authority, as regulator, makes rules for regulated firms, including rules that they comply promptly with an ombudsman's decision. The FSA has a full range of disciplinary and enforcement powers over regulated firms, including the power to impose and collect fines.

State Pensions

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 12 June, Official

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Report, column 1290W, on state pensions, what proportion of the rise for each of the listed pension schemes since 1997 is caused by (a) increases in prices and salaries, (b) a growth in the number of public servants, (c) reassessments of mortality rates and (d) other reasons; and if he will make a statement. [64500]

Mr. Boateng: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 21 June, Official Report, column 586W.

Pensions Mis-selling

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on recent action which he has taken on mis-selling of pensions. [63410]

Ruth Kelly: The Financial Services Authority announced earlier this year that it expected to bring the review of mis-sold pensions to a close by its target date of 30 June 2002. By the end of this year the vast majority of consumers with outstanding claims will have received the compensation due to them.

Spending Review

Mr. Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has determined the date for this year's spending review announcement. [65730]

John Healey: The Chancellor expects to announce the date shortly.

Regional Organisation

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which of the agencies and NDPBs sponsored by his Department have a regional organisation; and if he will list the counties and unitary authorities in each region in (a) 1997 and (b) 2002. [58941]

Mr. Boateng: None of the agencies and NDPBs sponsored by the Treasury has a regional organisation.

OECD PISA Survey

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) pupils and (b) schools who were asked to take part in the OECD PISA survey refused to participate. [65134]

Mr. Boateng: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many (a) pupils and (b) schools who were asked to take part in the OECD PISA survey refused to participate. (65134)

The numbers of pupils and schools in England that were asked to take part in the OECD PISA survey and refused to participate are shown in Table 2.1 of "Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study", published by ONS in May 2002.

The report is available for free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N

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Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps were taken to assess the educational achievements of pupils who refused to sit the OECD PISA survey tests; and whether this information was incorporated into the PISA results. [65135]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what steps were taken to assess the educational achievements of pupils who refused to sit the OECD PISA survey tests; and whether this information was incorporated into the PISA results.(65135)

The educational achievement of pupils who refused to sit the OECD PISA survey test were not assessed for the reasons given in Section A.4 under 'Representativeness of the sample of students', in Appendix A of "Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study". This report was published by ONS in May 2002.

As an alternative, test results at Key State 3 were sought directly from participating students so a comparison could be made with national statistics. However due to poor recollection by students, these data were incomplete and unreliable and therefore no comparison could be made.

The report is available free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reasons the schools which refused to participate in the OECD PISA survey gave for their refusal. [65133]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning what reasons the schools which refused to participate in the OECD PISA survey gave for their refusal. (65133)

For each school that chose not to participate in the OECD PISA survey in England, ONS attempted to ask the reasons why. Responses from schools varied in their level of detail and so it was not possible to conduct a systematic analysis. However, the most frequently cited reasons related to the time demands the survey would place upon school staff and on the selected students.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pupils were asked to sit the OECD PISA survey test for (a) reading, (b) mathematical and (c) scientific literacy; and how they were chosen. [65137]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning how many pupils were asked to sit the OECD PISA survey test for (a) reading, (b) mathematical and (c) scientific literacy; and how they were chosen.(65137)

Thirty-five students were randomly sampled in each participating school by ONS using lists of all students born in 1984 provided by the schools. Student sampling procedures and student response for PISA are described in Section 2.3 of Chapter 2 of "Student

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Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study" (ONS, May 2002).

The survey in England assessed all 4,120 participating pupils in reading literacy, 2,292 pupils in mathematical literacy and 2,284 in scientific literacy. The subjects that pupils were assessed in were determined by which of nine PISA test booklets had been randomly assigned to them.

The report is available for free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what basis schools were selected for inclusion in the OECD PISA survey; and how replacement schools were selected. [65129]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning on what basis schools were selected for inclusion in the OECD PISA survey; and how replacement schools were selected. (65129)

Section 2.3 of Chapter 2 of "Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study", (ONS, May 2002) outlines how schools were randomly sampled for the OECD PISA survey in England and describes the steps taken to represent the different types of schools in the correct proportions. For each school that was selected to take part, two potential replacement schools had been identified. Appendix A of this report describes the sampling procedures for replacement schools, which were designed so that the replacement schools had similar educational characteristics to the original school.

The report is available for free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the OECD's policy is regarding the inclusion of replacement schools in the OECD PISA survey. [65130]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the OECD's policy regarding the inclusion of replacement schools in the OECD PISA survey. (65130)

The OECD's specification for sampling schools for the OECD PISA survey required that a minimum response rate of 85 per cent. be achieved. Where this response rate fell between 65 per cent. and 85 per cent., it could still be achieved by using replacement sampling in line with procedures specified by the OECD. These are outlined in Section A.2 under "Replacement Sampling" in Appendix A of the ONS report, published in May 2002: "Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study".

The report is available for free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the schools selected as replacement schools for the OECD PISA survey. [65131]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

1 Jul 2002 : Column 119W

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the list of schools selected as replacement schools for the OECD PISA survey. (65131)

The Data Protection Act requires the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to honour any pledge that it makes to respondents before taking part in its surveys. Both the sampled schools and sampled pupils were assured before agreeing to co-operate that their decision to take part and the information they gave would be held in confidence by ONS. Consequently ONS cannot release the names of participating or non-responding schools or pupils.

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of schools selected for the OECD PISA survey agreed to take part (a) prior to the inclusion of replacement schools and (b) after the inclusion of replacement schools; and what the minimum proportion of the originally selected schools is deemed acceptable by the OECD for inclusion in the international survey. [65128]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Nick Gibb, dated 1 July 2002:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning what proportion of schools selected for the OECD PISA survey agreed to take part (a) prior to the inclusion of replacement schools and (b) after the inclusion of replacement schools; and what the minimum proportion of the originally selected schools is deemed acceptable by the OECD for inclusion in the international survey. (65128)

The numbers of schools in England that were selected for PISA and agreed to take part (a) prior to the inclusion of replacement schools and (b) after the inclusion of replacement schools are shown in Table 2.1 of "Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study", published by ONS in May 2002.

The corresponding response rates calculated by the OECD are (a) 59% and (b) 82% These fall below the response rates required by OECD for all participating countries of 65% and 85% respectively. The OECD therefore reviewed which schools had taken part and found that their profile of GCSE exam results was not statistically significantly different from that of all schools in England. An international review panel of experts that was established for this purpose by the OECD therefore concluded that low response from schools had not distorted English or UK results. Further details of this review can be found in Section A.4 under 'Representativeness of the sample of schools', in Appendix A of "Student Achievement in England—Results in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy among 15-year-olds from the OECD PISA 2000 study", published by ONS in May 2002.

The report is available for free at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=8169&More=N

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