House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 24 Jun 2003 (pt 13)

24 Jun 2003 : Column 699W—continued

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Appointments

Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the people appointed to ad hoc posts within his Department bearing the titles of advocate, tsar, adviser, champion and comparable titles since May 1997; what their job title is or was; what their role is or was; whether they were or are being paid; what the total cost of each such person was in each financial year, including expenses and benefits; what the expected cost of each such person is in 2003–04; to whom they are accountable; and if he will make a statement. [112463]

Mr. Charles Clarke: Since 1997, my Department has employed Special Advisers or Unpaid Advisers, as defined in paragraphs 50 and 51 of the Ministerial Special Code. The names are listed below:

David Blunkett

Conor Ryan

Sophie Linden

Lisa Barclay

Hilary Benn

Tom Bentley

Leala Padmanabhan

Tom Engel

Nick Pearce

Estelle Morris

Will Cavendish

Chris Boffey

Charles Clarke

Lisa Tremble

Robert Hill

The Special Adviser role within the Department was/is to advise the Secretary of State. Remuneration are not disclosed in order to protect the privacy of the individual concerned, and exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information applies. The unpaid adviser from the above list was Leala Padmanabhan.

Child Care

Mr. Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places were available in Brighton and Hove in each year since 1996–97. [114691]

Margaret Hodge: The available information for Brighton and Hove local authority is shown in the table.

Figures for 2001 and earlier years for England and Government Office regions were published in DfES Statistical Bulletin 08/01, "Children's Day Care Facilities at 31 March 2001", which is available in the Library and on the DfES website: www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics.

Numbers of day care places⁽¹¹⁾ by type of provider Brighton and Hove local authority area 1998–2001

Position at 31 March each year 1998 1999 2000 2001

Day nurseries ⁽¹²⁾— 1,900 1,800 2,100

Playgroups and pre-schools 1,100 1,100 1,000 1,000

Childminders 1,000 1,000 920 880

Out of school clubs 240 320 360 480

Holiday schemes⁽¹³⁾ 1,500 1,800 4,100 7,400

Position at 31 March each year	1998	1999	2000	2001


Day nurseries	⁽¹²⁾—	1,900	1,800	2,100
Playgroups and pre-schools	1,100	1,100	1,000	1,000
Childminders	1,000	1,000	920	880
Out of school clubs	240	320	360	480
Holiday schemes⁽¹³⁾	1,500	1,800	4,100	7,400

⁽¹¹⁾ Figures have been rounded

⁽¹²⁾ Day nursery figures for 1998 are not available

⁽¹³⁾ Some of the difference between 1998 and 1999 may be due to additional guidance given to data providers in 1999

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Class Sizes

Mr. Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were in classes of 31 or more in (a) infant and (b) primary schools in Stoke-on-Trent in each year since 1996–97. [119156]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: The information requested is shown in the table.

Maintained primary schools: Stoke-on-Trent local education authority

Number of pupils in classes of 31 or moretaught by one teacher

January Key stage 1 Total primary

1997⁽¹⁴⁾ 11,254 31,492

1998⁽¹⁵⁾ 2,525 7,465

1999⁽¹⁵⁾ 2,224 6,689

2000⁽¹⁵⁾ 750 4,909

2001⁽¹⁵⁾ 162 4,037

2002⁽¹⁵⁾ 62 2,648

2003⁽¹⁵⁾^,⁽¹⁶⁾^,⁽¹⁷⁾ 282 2,284

	Number of pupils in classes of 31 or moretaught by one teacher
January	Key stage 1	Total primary
1997⁽¹⁴⁾	11,254	31,492
1998⁽¹⁵⁾	2,525	7,465
1999⁽¹⁵⁾	2,224	6,689
2000⁽¹⁵⁾	750	4,909
2001⁽¹⁵⁾	162	4,037
2002⁽¹⁵⁾	62	2,648
2003⁽¹⁵⁾^,⁽¹⁶⁾^,⁽¹⁷⁾	282	2,284

⁽¹⁴⁾ Before local government reorganisation. Prior to 1998 Stoke-on-Trent was included with Staffordshire.

⁽¹⁵⁾ After local government reorganisation. Figures from 1998 onwards are not directly comparable to those for 1997.

⁽¹⁶⁾ The Key stage 1 total relates to 9 classes and each of these classes contained children who were exceptions permitted by legislation. These permitted exceptions resulted in a class of more than 30.

⁽¹⁷⁾ Provisional. Final figures will be published in September 2003.

Source:

Annual Schools' Census

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent representations he has received regarding school class sizes. [120775]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: There have been no recent substantial representations made to this Department regarding school class sizes, although during the last quarter, we received 18 letters, mainly from parents, relating to various class size issues.

Departmental Accountants

Mr. Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many qualified accountants are employed in (a) the School and LEA Funding Division of his Department and (b) his Department in total. [119498]

Mr. Charles Clarke: My Department employs 33 qualified accountants, of whom one is currently employed within School and LEA Funding Division.

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Some of the remainder are employed in a central accountancy team whose expertise can be drawn on as needed by Divisions across the Department.

Excluded Pupils

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library the results of the survey his Department conducted in 2002 into the arrangements each local education authority has in place to provide full-time education to excluded pupils. [119686]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The information received from LEAs about the education of permanently excluded pupils in response to a survey in spring 2002 was not sufficiently robust to provide a reliable picture of the type of education provision they received. Eight LEAs did not reply, and those who did used different methodologies to calculate their figures, some of which were incomplete. Some also expressed concern about the reliability of their own returns. For this reason I do not intend to place the results of this survey in the House of Commons Library.

However, all local education authorities confirmed that they were able to achieve the target of providing full-time education for all permanently excluded pupils by September 2002 and all but two currently report that they are sustaining such provision.

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children excluded from school are receiving their statutory entitlement to education following exclusion. [119424]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: There is no specific statutory entitlement to education following exclusion. However, the Government made a commitment to secure full-time education for all permanently excluded pupils by September 2002. All local education authorities confirmed that they were able to achieve that target and all but two currently report that they are sustaining such provision. In addition, Behaviour Improvement Programme LEAs are committed to providing full-time education for pupils temporarily excluded from target schools.

Individual Learning Accounts

Mr. Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many learning providers have been paid compensation following the Ombudsman's report into the closure of the ILA scheme; what the timetable is for payment; and if he will make a statement. [120728]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: As a result of the Ombudsman's report in response to a complaint by a learning provider, the Department has fully reimbursed that provider in respect of loss of income caused as a result of difficulties in booking learners onto the Individual Learning Account system.

The Department is in the process of contacting other learning providers who may have been similarly disadvantaged. This process will have been completed by early July.

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The timetable for completing the whole exercise depends on the volume and complexity of the claims received and the issues they raise and all claims will be subject to validation checks. It is important that Government Accounting requirements are met.

Mental Health

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on help for people suffering from mental health problems at the interface between education and work. [119932]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: No specific discussions have been held on this issue between Ministers of the two Departments. However, both Departments are involved with the Mental Health and Social Exclusion project being led by the Government's Social Exclusion Unit. The project is looking at how to improve rates of employment for those aged 16–65 with mental health problems, through support in taking up and retaining work. It is also looking at how to promote greater social participation and better access to services for this group.

The issue is also considered when taking forward other relevant policies. For instance we have developed the Connexions Service in partnership with a range of other Departments including the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health, which of course leads on mental health policy. The Connexions Service plays an important role in ensuring all 13–19 year olds, including those with mental health issues, get the support they need to overcome barriers to participation in learning and employment. We have recently published an 'emerging practice' guide for Connexions Partnerships setting out learning from a pilot project on providing support to young people with mental health problems.

The Learning and Skills Council, which has responsibility for planning and funding of post-16 education and training, including work-based training, also works in partnership with colleagues in the DWP. It is undertaking a programme of action research projects and development work that includes work on promoting access to employment for people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and also on the development of inclusive provision for learners with mental health problems. They have also published a National Institute of Adult Continuing Education briefing sheet for their staff, "Learning and Skills for People Experiencing Mental Health Difficulties". This sets out considerations for local LSCs to take into account in ensuring there is suitable provision for those with mental health difficulties.

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