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Market Testing

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the estimated level of saving to the Department is from the use of market testing in 2002–03. [107770]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: In 2002–03 my Department did not carry out any market testing.

My Department takes a rigorous approach to ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations, including an analysis of whether functions could be delivered by, or with, other partners including the private sector. Private sector organisations are currently, and will continue to be, key partners in education and skills delivery.

Microsoft Schools Agreement

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to conclude a new schools agreement with Microsoft. [112432]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Microsoft and the Department have been working together since last summer to reach an agreement on a way of reducing the cost of licences to schools. This has included work via our agency BECTA on clarifying current arrangements so that schools can make appropriate decisions on the best value for them. I had a meeting with Microsoft officials on 9 April and I am currently awaiting Microsoft's response to the issues raised.

Mr. Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what effect the announcement of an Office of Fair Trading inquiry into the existing Microsoft Schools Agreement will have on negotiations about a new schools agreement between his Department and Microsoft. [112434]

Mr. Charles Clarke: The Department will cooperate fully with the OFT, and will monitor closely the progress of the inquiry. In the meantime we will continue to work with Microsoft to reach an agreement on a way of reducing the cost of licences to schools.

Office for Fair Access

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the annual (a) staffing and (b) running costs of the proposed Office for Fair Access to higher education will be. [110885]

Margaret Hodge: Staffing and running costs have yet to be determined and will be appropriate to the task. It will not be a large office.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what arrangements will be made for liaison between the Office for Fair Access and HEFCE in the collection and analysis of data on admissions and non-completion of courses. [110915]

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Margaret Hodge: Details of the arrangements on data collection by the Office for Fair Access with and its relationship with HEFCE are set out in Widening Participation in Higher Education' available in the library

We have reflected on how best to take action to bear down on non-completion and decided that the work should be undertaken by HEFCE rather than OFFA.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the proposed Office for Fair Access will be required (a) to report annually on overall achievements of the higher education sector in improving access and (b) to preserve confidentiality of their dealings with individual institutions in connection with the implementation of their access agreements. [110927]

Margaret Hodge: Details of the reporting arrangements are set out in "Widening Participation in Higher Education", available in the Library. Subject to parliamentary approval of the relevant legislation, my right hon. Friend will issue more detailed guidance to the Office for Fair Access later.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what safeguards will be introduced (a) to ensure the independence of the proposed Office for Fair Access from HEFCE and (b) to define the financial and administrative relations between them. [110929]

Margaret Hodge: We have made it clear that the head of the proposed Office for Fair Access (OFFA) will exercise his or her independent judgement. This will be enshrined in legislation. OFFA will supported by, but separate from, HEFCE.

Pupils' Sugar Intake

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the effect of sugar intake on the teachability of children in classrooms. [111467]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills has not undertaken an assessment of this type.

Staff Pay Awards

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding, as a proportion of costs, has been made available to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to meet (i) teachers' pay awards, (ii) non-teaching staff pay awards, (iii) the national insurance increase, (iv) increased pensions costs, (v) grade drift arising from pay spine compression, (vi) pay inflation caused by recruitment and retention pressures and (vii) threshold payments in schools within the Essex LEA. [108476]

Mr. Miliband: The total national cash increase in revenue funding for schools and LEAs in 2003–04 is £2.7 billion. In 2003–04 the cash increase in Education Formula Spending and School Standards Direct Grant is 11.6 per cent; this is £250 million greater than the 10.5 per cent. pressures due to pay, pensions, inflation and ending grants. It is not possible to identify these costs at the level of the individual local education authority since we do not collect information on the

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distribution of staff salaries by individual LEA. However, we appreciate that for some authorities, such as Essex that received low education formula funding increases coupled with reductions in grant through the Standards Fund, low budget increases for schools may result. In the light of representations, we have announced an additional £28 million in grant to ensure that the effective increase for all LEAs between 2002–03 and 2003–04 was no less than 3.2 per cent. per pupil for all authorities, taking account of specific grants as well as EFS. Essex's share is £1.164 million. As far as threshold payments are concerned, the full cost including on-costs is covered by 100 per cent. grant on a demand-led basis.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State published on 2 May an analysis of all LEAs' schools for 2003–04. The analysis raises issues and the Department has written to the Assistant Director of Education asking about these and other issues. The authority has in particular been asked to explain why its central budget is increasing faster than its budget for schools, why it has significant funds intended for schools but not yet allocated to individual schools and why the range of increases for the authority's individual schools is so wide. The authority has until 12 May to respond.

Parliamentary Questions

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will answer the question from the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham on the average level of debt accumulated by university students, ref 106593. [112529]

Margaret Hodge: A reply was issued on 8 May.

Teachers' Pay

Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to harmonise pay grades between teachers in further education colleges and schools. [110070]

Margaret Hodge: Teachers in maintained schools are subject to national school teachers' pay and conditions. Further Education (FE) colleges are run by independent corporations established under the Further Education and Higher Education Act 1992 and there is no national pay structure in place. It is for each FE college to agree pay scales and conditions of employment with its staff in the context of the overall resources available to it. There are no plans to change these arrangements.

We have invested a significant amount of funding in the FE sector. Assumed total funding for FE colleges allocated to the LSC will increase by £1.2 billion in the three years to 2005–06, a 19 per cent. real terms increase. This funding provides the framework to allow FE colleges to make real progress on pay and pay structures and to narrow substantially the pay gap between general FE colleges and schools. We continue to work to deliver the Government's Manifesto commitment to bring up the level of funding for FE colleges towards that of school sixth forms.

University Admissions

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how he will measure the

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effectiveness of universities in offering places to women and girls from lower income families equitably, according to their intellectual ability. [109519]

Margaret Hodge: As we have made clear in "Widening Participation in Higher Education", we believe that all applicants to higher education should be treated fairly and on the basis of their merit and potential. We are not aware of any evidence which suggests that women are generally treated inequitably in the admissions process. Women are well represented in higher education. The participation rate for women aged under 21 in 2000 was 37 per cent., compared with 30 per cent. for men aged under 21. Although the bottom three social groups are under-represented in higher education, women of all age groups account for 53 per cent. of acceptances into higher education from these groups.

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