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3 Jun 2003 : Column 222W—continued
Physics
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he has taken to encourage young women to take up physics A Level. [116616]
Mr. Miliband: We are working closely with our colleagues in the Promoting SET for Women Unit at the DTI to take forward recommendations made in Baroness Greenfield's report, "SET Fair." From September 2003, a new science GCSE, Science in the 21st Century, will be piloted in 50 schools. The aim is to provide a sound and stimulating science education for all students whether they become consumers, users or producers of science. We are currently consulting on the programme of study for science at Key Stage 4, following a review by the QCA. In partnership with the Wellcome Trust, we are creating a national network of science learning centres that will provide innovative training for science teachers and technicians, aiming to bring the excitement of science into the classroom, including encouraging more young women to continue studying science post-16. We are also developing innovative materials and teacher training to improve the teaching and learning of A Level biology, chemistry and physics. We also fund specific initiatives that aim to promote physics to young people including the British Physics Olympiad.
Positive Activities for Young People
Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the relationship between Positive Activities for Young People and the Schools Behaviour Improvement Programme. [114198]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Behaviour Improvement Programme schools (BIPs) are key partners in the Positive Activities for Young People programme (PAYP). One of the delivery requirements of PAYP is the full consultation and involvement of schools in Behaviour Improvement Programme areas so that young people at risk of truancy are identified.
It is expected that a significant percentage of the cohort targeted by Lead Delivery Agents will be from Behaviour Improvement Programme schools. It is also envisaged that the relationship between school-based key workers (such as Learning Mentors, Behaviour and
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Educational Support Teams) and the additional Connexions Personal Adviser Key Workers recruited for PAYP will be crucial in ensuring continuity of support for targeted young people. LEA involvement in the Positive Activities for Young People programme will help determine how schemes fit in with existing activities carried out through BIPs.
It is expected that both programmes (in areas where they co-exist), will form continuous support for vulnerable young people in and out of school.
Primary School League Tables
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for primary school league tables. [115068]
Mr. Miliband: Our plans for primary schools performance tables are discussed in detail in two recent publications: "Consultation on Publication of School and College Performance Tables in 2003" and "Excellence and Enjoyment—A Strategy for Primary Schools". Immediate changes which we intend to introduce this year (subject to consultation) are:
- the addition of a Key Stage 1 (KS1) to Key Stage 2 (KS2) value added (VA) measure which will show progress schools help pupils make relative to their different starting points; and
the separate reporting of the percentage of pupils achieving Level 5 in KS2 English, maths, and science, showing the extent to which schools help pupils reach above the level expected by the end of KS2.
- extending and refining the coverage of VA calculations to include the use of P Scales so as to include the achievements of pupils working below the level assessed by the National Curriculum tests;
the possibility of omitting certain defined categories of pupils with special educational needs from the tables—such as those with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties;
a means of reflecting the breadth and richness of schools curriculum, or the extent to which they are inclusive, for example, by publishing the headline judgements from recent Ofsted reports on schools; and
exploring the possibility of offering more information allowing comparisons against schools in similar circumstances.
Public Service Agreements
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Department has taken to publicise its Public Service Agreement targets; and at what cost to public funds. [114444]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Information on PSA targets is published on the DfES website and included in routine publications such as departmental reports and autumn performance reports, which involve no significant extra cost. Other publicity includes the strategic framework document 'Education and Skills: Delivering Results, A Strategy to 2006', which sets out the Department's key objectives and how they will be delivered, including PSA targets. The cost of this document, which is used by both
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staff and a variety of external audiences, was £19,514.25; this includes design, typesetting and both the first and second print runs.
Public-Private Partnerships
Mr. Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many PPP bids were received to provide schools in Northamptonshire in the recent bid process; and if he will make a statement. [115950]
Mr. Miliband: 56 bids were submitted by Local Education Authorities with a total value in excess of £4 billion. None of the bids was to provide schools in Northamptonshire. Details of the projects prioritised can be found in the Press Notice 2003/0055 issued by the Department on 31 March 2003, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.
Qualifications
Mr. Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the percentage was of those completing statutory school with no recognised qualifications in (a) 1973, (b) 1980, (c) 1985, (d) 1990, (e) 1995, (f) 2000 and (g) for the latest year for which information is available. [115113]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 22 May 2003]: The percentage of 15-year-old pupils that failed to achieve a GCE O-level, CSE grade 1–5, GCSE grade A*-G or the GNVQ equivalent are:
| Academic year | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1972/73(33) | 7.3 |
| 1979/80(33) | 12.3 |
| 1984/85(33) | 9.7 |
| 1989/90 | 7.3 |
| 1994/95 | 8.1 |
| 1999/2000 | 5.6 |
| 2001/02 | 5.4 |
(33) Figures are based on school leavers of any age
Religious Schools
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many religious schools there are; what Government funding is provided to these schools; what proposals he has to create state-funded religious schools; and what assessment he has made on the effects of religious segregation in state education. [115127]
Mr. Miliband: There are 6,938 state funded schools with a religious character in England.
Schools with a religious character, often called faith schools or religious schools, are funded by local education authorities for their recurrent costs on the same basis as other maintained schools of the same type, ie primary or secondary. Government grants, for example, Standards Fund grant, are also payable on the same basis as for other maintained schools of the same type.
Voluntary Aided (VA) schools, irrespective of whether or not they are faith schools, are eligible for capital funding by grant from my Department. VA schools are paid on a similar basis to other categories of schools, but the governing body must usually pay at least 10 per cent. of the costs of capital work.
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Capital funding for schools not in the voluntary aided sector, irrespective of whether or not they are faith schools, is provided on the same basis for all categories of the same type of maintained schools, including the allocation of direct capital funding on the basis of a national formula, and access to local education authority formulaic funding in line with the priorities of the local asset management plan.
It is for promoters to put forward proposals to establish a school. Any new faith school must have the agreement of parents and the local community. Most decisions about whether or not a new faith school should open in England will be made locally—by the School Organisation Committee for the area, following local consultation, or by the Schools Adjudicator if the Committee cannot agree. In the case where a local education authority identifies a need for an additional secondary school, new procedures from 1 June will require them to hold a competition to run it and the Secretary of State will make the decision, after receiving comments from the School Organisation Committee.
At present there is no right of appeal against unanimous rejection by the School Organisation Committee: in future promoters who are not represented on the School Organisation Committee, including those from minority faiths, will be able to appeal to the Schools Adjudicator.
We have not made an assessment of the effects of religious segregation in state education. That is because we remain committed to ensuring that inclusiveness is at the heart of faith school policy, as recommended by the report "Building Cohesive Communities" produced by the interdepartmental Ministerial Group on Public Order and Community Cohesion in December 2001.
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