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20 Mar 2003 : Column 900W—continued
Further Education Funding
Ann Keen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make funds available for further education colleges to accept year 11 pupils who are without a school place. [103354]
Mr. Miliband: Local Education Authorities are responsible for ensuring all children of statutory school age have access to full-time education. They can use their funding to purchase education for children over the age of 14 from further education colleges, where this is an appropriate way of meeting their needs.
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Fire Prevention
Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funds he has allocated (a) for fire prevention measures and (b) for the installation of water sprinkers in (i) schools and (ii) PE colleges in 2003–04. [103674]
Mr. Miliband: The Department does not specifically fund either fire prevention measures or the installation of water sprinklers in schools and FE colleges. If the assessment of risks to particular premises identify specific fire prevention measures, including water sprinklers, as necessary then the expenditure would come from normal school, local education authority or FE college budgets, drawing on capital allocations made available to them by the Department.
Foundation Degrees
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all foundation degree students will be guaranteed a future funded year's study in order to upgrade to a full degree. [103113]
Margaret Hodge: As well as being awards in their own right foundation degrees can lead to one or more honours degrees. Foundation degree graduates are eligible to apply for the honours degree. The entry requirements are determined by the higher education institution offering the programme of study.
Primary School Admission Criteria
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether an LEA is free to set proximity to school premises as the admission criterion for a primary school. [102872]
Mr. Miliband: Yes. Where a LEA is the admission authority for a school it decides on the school's admission arrangements, which must include criteria for deciding which pupils should get places if there are more applicants than places. Proximity to the school is a lawful and acceptable criterion.
School Buildings
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the findings of the Audit Commission Report on Improving School Buildings. [101837]
Mr. Miliband: We welcome this report whose conclusions provide an endorsement of our school capital investment programme and our initiative to encourage the development of asset management planning in LEAs and schools. We intend to build upon the progress made in improving the school stock in our new approach to capital investment, for which proposals were set out in the recent consultation paper 'Building Schools for the Future'.
We are discussing with the Audit Commission our approaches to addressing the specific recommendations for Government.
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School Sixth Forms
Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the average A level points score per pupil for 11 to 18 years schools with sixth forms containing (a) 50 or fewer, (b) 51 to 100, (c) 101 to 150, (d) 151 to 200, (e) 201 to 250 and (f) more than 250 pupils in each of the last three years. [100882]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 13 March 2003]: The average GCE A/AS point score per candidate aged 16–18 in school sixth forms in 1999 to 2001 (the most recent three years for which data are available):
| Number of students in sixth form | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 50 | 14.7 | 15.7 | 15.3 |
| 51–100 | 14.7 | 15.1 | 15.9 |
| 101–150 | 16.7 | 17.2 | 17.2 |
| 151–200 | 18.7 | 18.5 | 18.8 |
| 201–250 | 19.4 | 19.9 | 20.5 |
| More than 250 | 19.7 | 19.6 | 20.2 |
| Total | 18.4 | 18.6 | 19.1 |
Schools (Warrington)
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in Warrington, North have, since 1997, had (a) new classrooms, (b) new dining rooms, (c) new toilet blocks and (d) other new buildings. [103186]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 17 March 2003]: We do not hold complete information in the form requested. However, in 1997–98 the Government introduced New Deal for Schools (NDS) as a new additional programme targeted specifically at addressing the backlog of urgent repairs in school buildings that had built up after eighteen years of under-funding under the previous administration. This programme was bid-based and was in addition to other capital funds made available to Warrington local education authority (Cheshire local education authority prior to local government reorganisation in 1998–99). NDS ran through four phases from 1997–98 to 2000–01. Table A shows the schools in the Warrington, North constituency which benefited from investment through the original NDS programme for these purposes. From 2001–02 most capital funding available for building improvements in schools has been allocated to local authorities and schools by needs-related formulae. It is for local authorities and schools to decide how their capital allocations are invested and prioritised between projects, in line with their local asset management planning. Also, from 2000–01 every school has received direct capital allocations to address their highest priorities. In addition, each year authorities have been able to bid for Basic Need funding for the provision of new pupil places. Table B shows all capital funding for school buildings allocated to Warrington local education authority (including voluntary aided schools) since 1998–99.
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| Allocations to schools in the Warrington North constituency | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NDS1 1997–98 | St Philip's Westbrook CofE Aided Primary School | Construction of extension to existing teaching area | LEA-wide grant | *971,000 |
| NDS1 1997–98 | Warrington St Ann's CofE Primary School | External adaptations to form a new SEN room | LEA-wide grant | |
| NDS3 1999–2000 | St Stephen's Catholic Primary School | Provision of nursery toilet | 1,053 | |
| NDS3 1999–2000 | Beamont Community Junior School | Replacement of dining room | Project including two schools | *386,100 |
| NDS3 1999–2000 | Beamont Community Infant School | Replacement of dining room | Project including two schools | |
| NDS4 2000–01 | Woolston Community High School | Science and technology block to replace deteriorating mobiles | 424,000 | |
* Denotes allocations made to package projects to the local authority, which will be able to advise the value of projects at schools in the Warrington, North constituency which benefited from these allocations.
| Total | |
|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 3.3 |
| 1999–2000 | 4.2 |
| 2000–01 | 7.9 |
| 2001–02 | 8.1 |
| 2002–03 | 8.3 |
| 2003–04 | 8.8 |
| Grand total | 40.6 |
Student Grants
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will estimate (a) the sum available in the Higher Education White Paper for student grants for each year of the spending review and (b) the cost of the Excellence in Cities Opportunity Bursary schemes in each year; and whether the bursary scheme will remain available to top up grants. [103426]
Margaret Hodge: The Government has earmarked almost £300 million in funds for the new Higher Education Grant. The Grant will be phased in, cohort by cohort, starting in autumn 2004, and therefore, during this spending review period, the costs will gradually build up towards that level of expenditure.
£37 million has been set aside to provide up to 26,000 opportunity bursaries over the three years starting in 2001–02. 2003 is the last year of the opportunity bursaries pilot; it is being replaced by the new grant. Students with opportunity bursaries will remain eligible to receive their payments in years two and three of the course, when the new grant is introduced.
Tuition Fees
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimates he has made of the extra income that will be received under the proposed £3,000 tuition fee limit; and if he will make a statement. [103358]
Margaret Hodge: It will be for each university and college to decide what fees they charge from 2006 subject to securing an acceptable access agreement. The extra income raised will depend on those decisions.
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