---

15 Oct 2002 : Column 778W—continued

Exclusions

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were excluded from state primary and secondary schools at each of the key stages in each of the last five years; and what percentage of each of these totals of exclusions children were recognised as being on the autistic spectrum. [73967]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The available information is shown in the table. Information collected centrally on permanent exclusions does not record the Key Stage of the pupil or the type of special educational need. Guidance from the Department makes clear that, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, schools should avoid permanently excluding pupils with statements of special educational needs. The guidance also requires head teachers to say, when reporting exclusions to Discipline Committees and Local Education Authorities whether the pupil has special educational needs, either with or without a statement.

15 Oct 2002 : Column 779W

Maintained Primary and Secondary Schools: Number of Permanent Exclusions by age of PupilsEngland 1996/97–2000/01 ¹

Primary Schools 2	Age of pupils						Total
	3 and under	4 to 6	7 to 10	11 to 13	14 to 15	16 and over
1996/1997
Number of permanent exclusions	0	239	1,316	18	0	0	1,573
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	15.2	83.7	1.1	0.0	0.0	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.01	0.06	0.08	0.00	0.00	0.04
1997/1998
Number of permanent exclusions	0	210	1,317	12	0	0	1,539
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	13.6	85.6	0.8	0.0	0.0	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.01	0.06	0.06	0.00	0.00	0.03
1998/1999
Number of permanent exclusions	0	188	1,164	14	0	0	1,366
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	13.8	85.2	1.0	0.0	0.0	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.07	0.00	0.00	0.03
1999/2000
Number of permanent exclusions	0	152	1,039	35	0	0	1,226
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	12.4	84.7	2.9	0.0	0.0	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.01	0.04	0.20	0.00	0.00	0.03
2000/2001 (1)
Number of permanent exclusions	0	166	1,240	30	0	0	1,436
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	11.6	86.4	2.1	0.0	0.0	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.01	0.05	0.18	0.00	0.00	0.03

Secondary Schools 2	Age of pupils						Total
		3 and under	4 to 6	7 to 10	11 to 13	14 to 15	16 and over
1996/1997
Number of permanent exclusions	0	0	56	4,727	5,500	180	10,463
Percentage of all permanent exclusions4	0.0	0.0	0.5	45.2	52.6	1.7	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.29	0.52	0.06	0.34
1997/1998
Number of permanent exclusions	0	0	49	4,404	5,537	197	10,187
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	0.0	0.5	43.2	54.4	1.9	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.00	0.06	0.27	0.53	0.06	0.33
1998/1999
Number of permanent exclusions	0	0	59	4,075	4,393	109	8,636
Percentage of all permanent exclusions 3	0.0	0.0	0.7	47.2	50.9	1.3	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.24	0.42	0.04	0.28
1999/2000
Number of permanent exclusions	0	0	33	3,266	3,322	92	6,713
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	0.0	0.5	48.7	49.5	1.4	100.0
Percentage of school population (4)	0	0	0.05	0.19	0.31	0.03	0.21
2000/2001 (1)
Number of permanent exclusions	0	0	50	4,063	3,165	27	7,305
Percentage of all permanent exclusions3	0.0	0.0	0.7	55.6	43.3	0.4	100.0
Percentage of school population4	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.23	0.29	0.01	0.23

Notes:

1 Permanent exclusions for 2000–01 are estimated as a number of LEAs have yet to confirm the data for their schools

2 Includes middle schools as deemed.

3 The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the total number

4 The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of full and part-time pupils (excluding dually registered pupils in special schools) in January each year.

Source:

Annual Schools Census

Departmental Guidance (14 to 16-year olds)

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to his answer of 24 July 2002, Official Report, column 1354W, when he will issue the published version of guidance on increased flexibility for 14 to 16-year-olds. [74743]

Mr. Miliband: The Department for Education and Skills and Learning and Skills Council's draft Guidance on Selected Legal Issues, as detailed in my answer of 24 July, is currently being revised in the light of comments made during an extensive consultation. The expectation is that a published version will be available in November 2002.

15 Oct 2002 : Column 780W

PFI Projects

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the PFI projects in maintained schools which have been approved, giving the value of each. [74518]

Mr. Miliband: 81 local education authority schools projects have been awarded PFI credits for new buildings or major refurbishments. Of these, 48 projects, covering 550 schools, have reached financial close, with a total capital value of #1.3 billion. Another 33 projects are in procurement, having been approved by the Treasury-chaired Project Review Group (PRG). These projects have a capital value of

15 Oct 2002 : Column 781W

#1.1 billion, and cover more than 250 schools. Details of these projects are given on the Department's website at www.teachernet.gov.uk/ schoolsprivatefinanceinitiative. A further 20 projects, covering more than 150 schools, have been awarded PFI credits on a provisional basis, and are currently preparing Outline Business Cases for consideration by the PRG.

Threshold Payments

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the number of teachers who have successfully applied for threshold but who are awaiting payment as a result of delays in Government funding. [73742]

Mr. Miliband: The Department makes monthly threshold payments to local education authorities so that payments can be made to schools as soon as they return a funding claim form. Authorities are also able to make payments to schools or teachers before receiving payment from the Department. This means that there should not be delays in schools receiving the Threshold Grant.

Grammar School Ballots

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local authorities have been the subject of a request for electoral reform services for the petition threshold figure under the education (grammar school ballots) regulations 1998 in 2001–02; and what threshold figure was calculated for each local authority. [73916]

15 Oct 2002 : Column 782W

Mr. Miliband: The information requested is as follows:

	Number
Bexley	8,829
Bournemouth	3,849
Buckinghamshire	17,159
Kent	*
Kingston-upon-Thames	3,433
Lancashire	request withdrawn
Lincolnshire	*
Medway Towns	10,533
Poole	3,766
Reading	3,679
Slough	4,563
Southend	5,946
Sutton	7,096
Torbay	4,310
Trafford	8,624
Wirral (Calday)	2,146
Wirral (County)	2,916
Wirral (St Anselm)	2,122

Note:

* ERS were unable to complete setting thresholds for Kent and Lincolnshire.

School Funding

Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average per capita funding for schools was in each of the last 10 years; and what the projection is for the next three years. [73966]

Mr. Miliband: The per capita funding for schools in the last 10 years is set out in the table below. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills will determine the final schools projected per capita funding later in the year.

1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–00	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03
#2,960	#2,940	#2,920	#2,830	#2,830	#2,830	#2,870	#2,990	#3,190	#3,390	#3,520

---