| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
12 May 2003 : Column 47W—continued
Stevens Inquiry
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many employees are suspended as a result of preliminary conclusions of investigations being conducted by Sir John Stevens. [111849]
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what instructions were received by Sir John Waters from Sir Hugh Annesley concerning co-operation with the Stevens Inquiry; and if he will place a copy of the instructions in the Library. [111853]
Mr. Ingram: The Police investigation under Sir John Stevens is continuing. I am therefore withholding the information requested under section 4a of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many individuals have (a) died and (b) been injured as a result of collusion with loyalist paramilitary groups, as identified in the report of Sir John Stevens. [112275]
Mr. Ingram: Sir John Stevens' overview and recommendations published on 17 April 2003 made clear that his enquiries and specific criminal investigations are continuing and that his recommendations cover the operations of all security forces in Northern Ireland. Thus it would be improper for the Ministry of Defence to comment.
Warships
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Sonar 2087 sets (a) have been and (b) are scheduled to be ordered for Royal Navy vessels; and how many vessels, broken down by class, are to be fitted with them. [111311]
Mr. Ingram: Six Sonar 2087 ship sets have been ordered and a further six are planned to be ordered. It is planned to fit all 12 to Type 23 Frigates. There are at present no plans to fit Sonar 2087 to any other Royal Navy vessels.
12 May 2003 : Column 48W
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the continuation in service of each of the (a) batch 3 Type-22 and (b) Type-23 frigates. [111315]
Mr. Ingram: At present the Royal Navy's Type 22 and Type 23 Frigates are scheduled to remain in service until around the middle of the next decade from which point they will be progressively withdrawn.
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) destroyers and (b) frigates which (i) are and (ii) are not fully operational together with the reasons for non-availability of each of the non-operational vessels. [111318]
Mr. Ingram: The Royal Navy has 31 frigates and destroyers, of which 26 (±1) are normally folly operational in "Fleet time" and available for tasking, and five in deep maintenance. Additionally, HMS Nottingham is currently being repaired following her grounding in July 2002.
(i) Frigates and destroyers available for tasking are:
- Destroyers
- HMS Cardiff
- HMS Newcastle
- HMS Glasgow
- HMS Southampton
- HMS Liverpool
- HMS Manchester
- HMS Edinburgh
- HMS York
12 May 2003 : Column 49W
- Frigates
- HMS Cornwall
- HMS Cumberland
- HMS Chatham
- HMS Norfolk
- HMS Argyll
- HMS Marlborough
- HMS Lancaster
- HMS Iron Duke
- HMS Westminster
- HMS Northumberland
- HMS Richmond
- HMS Grafton
- HMS Sutherland
- HMS Somerset
- HMS Kent
- HMS Portland
- HMS St. Albans
12 May 2003 : Column 50W
(ii) Frigates and destroyers not available for tasking are:
| Reason for non-availability | |
|---|---|
| Destroyers | |
| HMS Exeter | Upkeep maintenance in dry dock |
| HMS Gloucester | Just started conducting Sea Acceptance Trails |
| HMS Nottingham | Dry dock undergoing repair work following grounding |
| Frigates | |
| HMS Cambeltown | Nearing completion of Sea Acceptance Trials |
| HMS Monmouth | Mid-way through Sea Acceptance Trials |
| HMS Montrose | Upkeep maintenance in dry dock |
Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what lessons he has drawn from Royal Navy operations in the Gulf in respect of (a) the number of escort vessels required to safeguard large units and (b) tactics to ensure security against suicide attacks against warships. [111332]
Mr. Ingram: A process is in hand to gather all the lessons learned from recent Royal Navy operations and the conflict in the Gulf region.
12 May 2003 : Column 51W
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Broadband
Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills by when he expects all schools in England to have broadband internet access; and what steps he is taking to bring this about. [112850]
Mr. Miliband: The Prime Minister has set a target for all schools to be connected to broadband by 2006. DfES is working with the Regional Broadband Consortia, LEAs and schools to ensure this target is achieved. Typically DfES would expect primary schools to be connected at a minimum of 2 Megabits per second (2Mbps) and secondary schools at 8 Mbps.
Broadband connectivity is being rolled out through the 10 Regional Broadband Consortia for England, in conjunction with member LEAs. The Department is also working with a range of partners including telecoms companies and other Government Departments to identify other cost effective ways of providing broadband for schools.
Disciplinary Methods
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what disciplinary methods newly-qualified teachers are (a) encouraged to use and (b) discouraged from using; and what guidance is available from the Department. [111650]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Teacher Training Agency's standards for initial teacher training and induction require all new teachers to be equipped with a range of strategies to support and improve pupil behaviour. It is for individual teachers, acting within law and in line with the school behaviour policy, to determine which methods to use in particular circumstances.
We provided guidance to schools on drawing up and implementing effective behaviour policies in "Social Inclusion: Pupil Support", published in 1999. We are investing nearly £470 million over the next three years in the national behaviour and attendance strategy, which will among other things, provide further advice and training to support the development and consistent implementation of whole school behaviour policies by all secondary school staff, including newly-qualified teachers.
Disruptive Students
Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the performance of behaviour improvement programme experts in addressing disruptive students. [111649]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) currently runs in 61 LEA areas, and involves extra funding for measures to tackle behaviour and attendance issues in schools where they present a significant threat to standards. Participating schools and authorities have used the funding to provide a range of additional staff including professionals working as
12 May 2003 : Column 52W
part of school-based multi-agency teams, and dedicated staff to mentor and support pupils with problems. Additional funding has also been used to enable a member of the senior management team to focus on whole school behaviour and attendance issues.
Early findings from the two-year independent evaluation of BIP show classroom disruption, as measured by exclusions, decreasing. Further results will allow us to judge which staff and which models of intervention had the most impact on the target group.
Education Act
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have applied to the Department for power to innovate as a result of the Education Act 2002; and if he will list the areas of innovation applied for by each school. [112854]
Mr. Miliband: There have been two formal applications to use the power to innovate, both of which have been approved. Both schools that applied were reorganising their school day and applied for exemption from the Changing of School Session Times (England) Regulations 1999 in order to change the timing and length of their school days mid-way through the year.
As well as these two formal applications, the Innovation Unit has provided advice to schools and LEAs on a whole range of inquiries about using the power to innovate and making use of the existing freedoms and flexibilities that are available to schools. (In a number of cases, schools that have contacted the Unit did not realise the extent of the freedoms and flexibilities that are already available and that they did not need the power to innovate to achieve their aims).
The Unit does not keep a detailed list of all the inquiries that it receives, as many are informal discussions that members of the Unit have with schools and LEAs.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have applied for earned autonomy as a result of the Education Act 2002; and if he will list the reasons for the application in each case. [112855]
Mr. Miliband: Schools are not currently eligible to apply, as the relevant provisions of the Education Act 2002 have not yet been commenced and the necessary regulations have not yet been made.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications he has received for the establishment of academies as a result of the Education Act 2002; and if he will list for each application (a) the principal sponsors and (b) whether the application has been successful. [112856]
Mr. Miliband: We have received 17 formal expressions of interest to establish an academy under
12 May 2003 : Column 53W
Section 482 of the Education Act 1996 as amended by the Education Act 2002. These are detailed in the table. They do not include expressions of interest to establish city academies which were received prior to the commencement of the relevant sections of the Act.
12 May 2003 : Column 54W
Three academies are currently open, a further nine will open in September 2003. 12 academies are currently in development, and will open in 2004 or 2005, which were announced prior to the 2002 Education Act and are not included in the following table.
| LEA | (a) Principal | (b) Status |
|---|---|---|
| Croydon | Lord Harris of Peckham | Approved |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Martyn Arbib | Approved |
| Greenwich | The Archdiocese of Southwark | Approved |
| Hackney | Not yet announced | Approved |
| Lewisham | The De La Salle Brothers | Approved |
| Lewisham | The Haberdashers' Livery Company | Approved |
| Westminster | Chelsfield plc | Approved |
| Westminster | Not yet announced | Approved |
| Doncaster | Not yet announced | Under current consideration |
| Kent | Not yet announced | Under current consideration |
| Peterborough | Not yet announced | Under current consideration |
| Solihull | Not yet announced | Under current consideration |
| Leicester | Not yet announced | Referred for further development |
| Sheffield | Not yet announced | Referred for further development |
| Bexley | No sponsor | Not approved |
| Bristol | No sponsor | Not approved |
| Portsmouth | No sponsor | Not approved |
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |