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30 Apr 2003 : Column 414W—continued
Pupil Setting
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 3 April 2003, Official Report, column 818W, on pupil setting, by what measures his Department has encouraged the use of setting to meet the learning needs of more able pupils. [109021]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Guidance to Excellence in Cities partnerships lists several approaches they might wish to consider, including:
- "adopting setting in 'linear' subjects like maths, science and modern foreign languages, to make the teaching of the able pupil cohort more manageable. While setting gives able pupils the opportunity to work at a faster pace, it must be operated flexibly, so that pupils can move into and out of sets when appropriate".
Mr. Miliband: Data collected by Ofsted during school inspections shows:
| Key stage 2 | Key stage 3 | Key stage 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 31 | 82 | 92 |
| Science | 3 | 59 | 86 |
| Modern foreign languages | — | 58 | 70 |
| English | 17 | 46 | 58 |
Pupil:Teacher Ratio
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pupil to teacher ratios are for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) North Shropshire and (ii) England. [110072]
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Mr. Miliband: The data requested is shown in the table.
| Primary | Secondary | |
|---|---|---|
| North Shropshire Parliamentary Constituency | 22.6 | 16.9 |
| England | 22.5 | 16.9 |
(7) Includes middle schools as deemed
Source:
Annual Schools' Census
Public Appointments
Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made by his Department towards the aim in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of encouraging applicants to public bodies from all parts of England; and what change there has been in the geographical diversity of appointees to NDPBs and other public bodies sponsored by his Department since the publication of the White Paper. [108558]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Vacancies for public appointments are publicised routinely by my Department in a range of national and local media, including its own website (www.dfes.gov.uk) and the new website (www.publicappts-vacs.gov.uk) launched by the Cabinet Office in March 2003.
All public appointments are made on merit. In the period since the publication of the White Paper on 14 May 2002 up until 31 March 2003, my Department made 48 new appointments to non-departmental public bodies. The distribution by residence of those appointed is detailed below.
| English region/country | Number of new appointments |
|---|---|
| North East | 2 |
| North West | 2 |
| Yorks and Humberside | 2 |
| East Midlands | 2 |
| West Midlands | 3 |
| East | 3 |
| South West | 3 |
| London | 12 |
| South East | 15 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 |
| Scotland | 2 |
| Wales | 1 |
Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress the Department has made towards the aim in the White Paper, Your Region, Your Choice, of assessing the balance of staff between the centre and the regions in terms of effective policy design and implementation; and what examples there have been since the publication of the White Paper of the Department deciding between locating new streams of work (a) in and (b) outside London and the South East. [108568]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: My Department is currently reviewing the deployment of its staff resources in the regions, with the aim of improving value for money. The review is about to report, and its recommendations will be considered in May.
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My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget plans to examine relocation of public services with the aim of achieving best value for money. He has asked Sir Michael Lyons—Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies at Birmingham University—to advise on relocation by the next Spending Review.
Joyce Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress his Department has made towards the goal set out in the White Paper, "Your Region, Your Choice", of (a) ensuring that regional awareness and devolution feature strongly in civil service training and development, (b) increasing the mobility of civil servants between headquarters offices, regional offices and the Government offices and (c) encouraging interchange between the civil service and organisations in the regions. [108578]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Minister of State, Cabinet Office will be answering this question giving an overall civil service perspective.
Since the publication of the White Paper in May 2002, there has not been any specific development of this Department's training and development programmes to raise awareness of devolution and regional awareness, but the recent launch of "Delivering Through People: A Human Resource Strategy for DfES" commits the Department to developing HR action plans to maximise the contribution of each of our four sites in delivering the Department's business.
Interchange is the exchange of staff between the civil service and other public and private sector organisation in the regions for periods of a few weeks up to five years. Interchange promotes better understanding between organisations and is a practical and effective form of personal development as it gives staff first hand experience of a different work environment and the issue and challenges which the people working in it face. Secondees have an opportunity to learn new skills, new ways of working, and new ways of dealing with problems. The DfES is actively committed to making interchange available to peoples at all levels as it can be a real benefit to the individual and to the Department as a whole.
From 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 interchange between HQ an organisations in the regions was 368, an increase of 9 per cent. on the previous year.
School Curriculum
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many hours pupils spent on average per week studying (a) English, (b) mathematics, (c) physical education, (d) music and (e) history broken down by school year group, in each year since 1997. [110051]
Mr. Miliband: The amount of time spent on each National Curriculum subject is for individual schools to decide. Schools are required to cover the programme of study for each subject during the relevant key stage but are free to organise their timetable as they wish. The Department does not collect comparative data which relates to the average amount of time spent per week on a particular subject.
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In order to help schools plan their own timetable the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has produced non-statutory guidance suggesting how much time should be spent on each National Curriculum subject per week at key stages 1, 2 and 3.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what figures he has collated on the percentage of children who learn about poverty in developing nations at school. [109677]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department does not collect data centrally on the percentage of children who learn about poverty in developing nations at school. Through Citizenship, a statutory requirement in secondary schools from September 2002, pupils study global issues, including the political, social and economic implications. Through geography, a statutory requirement for 5 to 14-year-olds, pupils learn about different countries, their peoples and culture, including the concept of interdependence.
School Exclusions
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) temporary and (b) permanent exclusions were made by (i) primary, (ii) secondary schools and (iii) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110135]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The available information has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
Information on pupils suspended (excluded for a fixed period) is not collected centrally. Following a review of data collected on exclusions, the Department is planning to collect information from local education authorities on both fixed term and permanent exclusions on a termly basis from this summer.
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