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3 Jun 2003 : Column 225W—continued
School Budget Deficit (Shropshire)
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the budget deficit is for schools in Shropshire in financial year 2003–04. [115030]
Mr. Miliband: The information requested by the hon. Member is not collected by my Department. This information should be available from the local education authority.
School Catering
Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the (a) quantity, (b) quality and (c) source of non-UK produced eggs used in school catering. [115759]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills does not hold any information on the quality, quantity or source of non-UK produced eggs used in school catering. It is the responsibility of the LEA or schools with delegated budgets to decide on the products they use in the preparation of school meals.
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average amount spent on a school meal by children is in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority area. [115260]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: Information on the average amount spent on school meals is not collected centrally.
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Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in each local education authority area are entitled to free school meals. [115261]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The information requested has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
School Inspection
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of (a) Year 7, (b) Year 8, (c) Year 9, (d) Year 10 and (e) Year 11 lessons seen by Ofsted in each year from 1995 to 2001 were recorded as set. [115573]
Mr. Miliband: This is a matter for Ofsted. The HM Chief Inspector, David Bell, will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of Key Stage 1 classes inspected in 2001–02 contained 30 pupils or over. [115574]
Mr. Miliband: This is a matter for Ofsted. The HM Chief Inspector, David Bell, will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library.
School Software
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action his Department is taking to increase the confidence of schools in the use of open source software. [116659]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), which is the Government's lead agency for ICT in education, has published a number of documents on its ICT Advice website that provide information about open source software. They are:
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=te&cat=00a&rid=1798
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&cat=004006&rid=1858
How to choose between software licenses
http://ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&pagenum=1&NextStart=1&rid=1005&rr=1
Licensing electronic materials: advice and issues for schools
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/downloads/guidance doc/licensing electronic.doc
These articles put open source in the context of other licensing options, making schools aware that there are choices.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have signed a Microsoft Schools Agreement contract. [116660]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Government do not collect this information. Schools are free to make their own arrangements about what software to use and how to pay for it. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), which is the
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Government's lead agency for ICT in education, has published a number of documents on its ICT Advice website that help schools to make informed choices. They include:
"How to choose between software licenses" http://ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&pagenum=1&NextStart=1&rid=1005&rr=1
"How to upgrade software" http://www.ictadvice.org.uk/index.php?section=ap&cat=004006&rid=1006
Microsoft's own licensing information can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/microsoft-licensing/
Schools Budgets
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on schools budgets in 2003–04 in relation to teaching staff. [114868]
Mr. Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made to the House on 15 May 2003 by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. It is now for local authorities and schools to consider the implications for school budgets including teaching staff.
Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the funding was per pupil in the Brighton and Hove LEA in each year since 1996–97. [114697]
Mr. Miliband: The table shows total funding per pupil in Brighton and Hove since 1997–98. The local government reorganisation means that data for 1996–97 does not conform to current boundaries so comparable figures are not available.
| 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,630 | 2,750 | 2,920 | 3,190 | 3,420 | 3,610 | 3,770 |
Notes:
1. Figures reflect education SSA/EFS settlement (all sub-blocks) plus revenue grants in DfES departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to EPS pupils aged 3 to 19.
2. Figures exclude EMAs and grants not allocated at LEA level for all years and the pensions transfer to EFS and LSC for 2003–04.
3. The pupil numbers used are those underlying the SSA/EFS settlement calculations plus PLASC 3 yos maintained pupils and estimated 3–4 yos funded through state support in maintained and other educational institutions where these are not included in the SSA pupil numbers.
4. 1997–98 figures for LEAs subject to local government reorganisation in that year have been estimated, pro-rata to their post LGR figures.
5. 2003–04 figures are forecasts.
6. Figures are in cash term and rounded to the nearest £10.
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact on secondary school budgets of the new system of funding sixth forms via learning and skills councils; and if he will make a statement. [115438]
Margaret Hodge: For the academic year 2003/03, the LSC has allocated £1.418 billion to LEAs for school sixth form and post-16 Special Education Needs
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provision within agreed timescales. In this, the first year of LSC funding, 67 per cent. of all sixth forms are on the new LSC formula at funding rates higher than historical levels of funding. The remaining schools, previously on more generous levels of funding, are protected by our Real Terms Guarantee to ensure funding is maintained in real terms at historic levels, provided pupil numbers are maintained. The LSC has been responsive to the higher than expected growth in pupil numbers and higher than expected pupil retention in school sixth forms in 2002/03. The figure above includes additional sums to those originally planned, which the LSC has now allocated to school sixth form funding for 2002/03. Our assessment of the impact of the new LSC funding system on secondary schools with sixth forms is that it has been beneficial in ensuring that funding levels are protected or increased in real terms, and that successful school sixth forms are rewarded.
Sickness Absence
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff in the Department have been on long-term sick leave in each of the last two years. [115852]
Mr. Charles Clarke: My Department is committed to managing sickness absence effectively and is maintaining its efforts to meet the 2003 target for reduced sickness absence as set out in its Service Delivery Agreement.
The number of staff who took periods of sick leave in excess of 21 days in each of the last two calendar years was:
- 2002: 358
2001: 341
Standards Fund
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will make a statement on the future of the Standards Fund for Teaching Assistants and School Support Staff; [115560]
- (2) if he will make a statement on the consultation that took place prior to the proposal for the withdrawal of the Standards Fund for Teaching Assistants and School Support Staff; and which organisations were consulted prior to the proposal. [115561]
Mr. Miliband: For 2003–04 the previous Teaching Assistants Grant and Small Schools Fund were merged to form the Support Staff Grant, which contributes towards the salary costs of support staff in schools. The Government will work in partnership with local authorities and schools to identify changes that need to be made to the education funding system for 2004–05, so that all schools can expect to receive a reasonable per pupil settlement in that year. This will include determining the right balance between support through general grant and through ring-fenced and targeted grant, including the grants currently within the Standards Fund, such as the School Support Staff Grant. The Government will ensure that changes are in place in good time to allow LEAs and schools to plan for 2004–05 and so provide increased predictability and stability in school funding.
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The Education Funding Strategy Group, which met between February 2001 and April 2002, included representatives from local government, the unions representing teachers and support staff, schools governors' organisations and the churches. The Group's Report stated that there was general agreement that the scale of specific and special grants should be significantly reduced, including the Standards Fund. This conclusion informed decisions made about the future of specific grants following the 2002 Spending Review, which included a proposal to end the Standards Fund grants for School Support Staff from 2004–05.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of the discontinuation of major Standards Funds. [115562]
Mr. Miliband: The Government has ended some Standards Fund grants in 2003–04 in order to allow other priorities to be supported from the Fund, without increasing the overall proportion of ring-fenced funding for local authorities and schools. The Government recognises that this has resulted in a greater variation of winners and losers between local education authorities and between individual schools than would be expected in a normal year.
The Government will continue work in partnership with local authorities and schools to identify changes that need to be made to the education funding system for 2004–05, so that all schools can expect to receive a reasonable per pupil settlement in that year. This will include determining the right balance between support through general grant and through ring-fenced and targeted grant, including the Standards Fund. The Government will ensure that changes are in place in good time to allow LEAs and schools to plan for 2004–05 and so provide increased predictability and stability in school funding.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to alter the boundaries in the School Standards Grant. [115563]
Mr. Miliband: The amounts of School Standards Grant for 2004–05 and 2005–06 were announced in December 2002. However, we review annually the basis on which grant is paid, including the various thresholds used to determine amounts payable to each school. Any changes to the levels already announced will be notified to local education authorities and schools later in 2003.
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Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what additional resources are available to relieve the shortages of funding for education services in Coventry City Council. [116150]
Mr. Miliband: Coventry City Council received a 6.5 per cent. increase in Education Formula Spending Share for 2003–04. It passed on 106 per cent. of the increase in schools funding to its schools budget resulting in an 8.3 per cent. increase. It is for the local education authority, in consultation with its schools forum to decide how to use this to meet the needs of Coventry's schools.
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