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19 Jun 2003 : Column 361W—continued
Sustainable Development
Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what remit relating to sustainable development is required by her Department's (a) executive agencies, (b) advisory non-departmental bodies, (c) executive non-departmental bodies, (d) tribunals, (e) public corporations and (f) other bodies. [116678]
Mr. Morley: Central Departments and their Executive Agencies are covered by the 'Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate' and the targets it contains. Departments are responsible for encouraging and developing the integration of SD into the policy and operations of their associate bodies, ie executive agencies, advisory non-departmental bodies, executive non-departmental bodies, tribunals, public corporations and other bodies.
In the Greening Government 1st Annual Report (1999) a commitment was made to have the Cabinet Office NDPB guidance revised to include the requirement for departments to encompass SD into the remit of any new NDPBs they set up. This was done and reported in the Greening Government 2nd Annual Report (2000). A number of associate bodies set up
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before this requirement was put in place already made explicit reference to the pursuit of sustainable development in their aims/objectives or remits, an example of which is the Environment Agency.
The Defra publication 'Our Strategy 2003–06' contains a commitment to improve the consistency with which all organisations linked to Defra focus on sustainable development objectives. This will be taken forward as part of the review of Defra's Sustainable Development Strategy, 'Foundations for Our Future', due to be undertaken this summer.
EDUCATION AND SKILLS
Broadband
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had on introducing broadband to schools on Exmoor in Somerset to comply with the Government's aim of all schools having broadband by 2005. [119611]
Mr. Charles Clarke: The Prime Minister has set a target for all schools to be connected to broadband by 2006. The Department for Education and Skills is working with the Regional Broadband Consortia, LEAs and schools to ensure this target is achieved. The Department has also had a range of discussions with a number of partners including telecoms companies and other Government Departments to identify cost-effective ways of providing broadband access for schools, regardless of geographic location.
The Department has not had discussions regarding broadband for schools on Exmoor specifically; rather, discussions have focused on ensuring all schools in the region will be effectively connected by 2006.
Bullying
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what measures are in place (a) to prevent bullying in schools and (b) to punish those found to be harassing their peers; [119604]
- (2) what proposals he has to protect pupils found to be victims of bullying in schools; and if he will make a statement on how bullying can affect children; [119605]
(3) what guidance he gives on when schools should consider police intervention in a case of bullying; and in what circumstances pupils may be expelled for bullying; [119606]
(4) if he will make a statement on the protection of children from bullying while in school; and whether it is his policy that (a) victims and (b) the offender should be removed from the school. [119607]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Bullying is a serious problem that affects pupils' educational achievement and emotional well-being. All schools in England must treat the problem seriously, and are required to draw up written measures, which must be fully implemented, to prevent all forms of bullying among pupils.
We have made available to schools a free information pack and video entitled "Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence", which provides examples of good practice in
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preventing bullying. There is also a dedicated website at www.dfes.qov.uk/bullying, which offers help to pupils, parents and teachers and contains links to other websites. Anti-bullying work is part of our Behaviour and Attendance strategy and from this September it will feature within the new behaviour and attendance audits and training, which are being introduced into secondary schools as part of the Key Stage 3 strategy.
Schools need to have a range of measures in place to protect their pupils—including pupils who have been bullied previously—from bullying. These are likely to include proper supervision during the school day and encouraging a culture of openness so that bullying cannot flourish unseen. Schools should do all they can to ensure that pupils do not feel they need to change school because of bullying. As far as the bullies are concerned, we have made it clear that, where necessary, those responsible for serious or prolonged bullying—including cases of violence, sexual assault or inciting racial harassment—can be permanently excluded.
We have published guidance on the circumstances in which the police should be involved in cases of bullying in school. We encourage all schools to have effective links with the local police. The Safer School Partnerships established within our wider Behaviour and Attendance strategy, whereby police officers are based in some schools, will also help to prevent and deal with bullying.
Criminal Records Checks
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many enhanced checks (a) have been carried out and (b) remain to be carried out in the academic year 2002–03 by the Criminal Records Bureau on (i) teaching staff, (ii) non-teaching
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school staff, (iii) governors and (iv) parent volunteers; and how many checks will be carried out on each category; [119426]
- (2) how many school-related local authority staff (a) have been checked and (b) remain in need of checking by the Criminal Records Bureau in the academic year 2002–03. [119437]
Mr. Miliband: My Department does not hold this information.
Eco-schools
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what arrangements his Department has for the dissemination of educational information regarding environmental matters by way of the network of eco-schools in England; [118690]
- (2) what assessment he has made of the contribution made by the eco-schools programme to the delivery of the citizenship curriculum. [118691]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We have no plans for utilising the network of Eco-Schools (run by EnCams Limited) as a dissemination mechanism for environmental education. The citizenship curriculum is deliberately flexible, allowing teachers to choose the delivery methods best suited to their pupil's needs and interests. The Eco-Schools programme is one of a number of methods schools employ to deliver citizenship.
Education Support Staff
Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education support staff have been employed in each year since 1997; and what duties they carried out. [118256]
Mr. Miliband: Information on the number of support staff is shown in the table. The deployment of support staff is a matter for individual schools. No information on this deployment is available centrally.
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003(9) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching assistants(10) | |||||||
| Teaching assistants | 35.5 | 38.8 | 39.3 | 45.3 | 55.6 | 57.3 | 73.1 |
| Special needs support staff | 24.5 | 26.0 | 29.5 | 32.4 | 37.7 | 46.7 | 46.8 |
| Minority ethnic pupil support staff | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Total | 61.3 | 66.3 | 70.3 | 79.8 | 95.8 | 106.4 | 122.3 |
| Administrative staff | |||||||
| Secretaries | 27.6 | 28.5 | 29.1 | 30.2 | 30.6 | 25.6 | 24.7 |
| Bursars | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.1 |
| Other admin/clerical staff | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 10.7 | 19.3 | 20.8 |
| Total | 39.2 | 40.1 | 41.2 | 43.2 | 46.3 | 49.8 | 50.6 |
| Technicians | |||||||
| Total | 12.7 | 13.1 | 13.5 | 14.2 | 15.0 | 16.6 | 18.0 |
| Other support staff | |||||||
| Matrons/nurses/medical staff(11) | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
| Child care staff (boarding schools)(12) | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 0.4 |
| Other(13) | 18.7 | 19.7 | 22.1 | 23.1 | 27.4 | 39.3 | 32.3 |
| Total | 23.3 | 24.4 | 26.5 | 27.5 | 31.8 | 44.2 | 34.4 |
| Total support staff | 136.5 | 143.8 | 151.5 | 164.7 | 189.0 | 217.0 | 225.3 |
| (Total excluding nursery schools) | 134.1 | 141.5 | 149.0 | 162.1 | 186.3 | 214.2 | 222.4 |
(8) Includes non-maintained special (and special and general hospital schools).
(9) Provisional.
(10) Includes nursery assistants in nursery schools.
(11) Included with 'other' in nursery schools.
(12) Due to a reporting problem at source, the number of child care staff has not been recorded accurately by schools, resulting in child care staff being distributed across other support staff categories.
(13) Includes: librarians, welfare assistants, learning mentors and any other support staff regularly employed in schools; matrons, nurses, other medical staff in nursery schools.
Source:
Annual School Census
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