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EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Child Abuse

Mr. Wray: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what therapeutic services are available for abused children; and if he will make a statement. [133134]

Margaret Hodge: A range of therapeutic services for abused children is provided by statutory agencies as well as by the private and voluntary sectors. If a child is assessed by social services as being a child in need (as defined in the Children Act 1989), social services, together with other relevant agencies, would provide help as part of that child's plan.

Capital Projects

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Government capital projects for schools had as a requirement that the school reduce its size, in the last year for which figures are available. [134666]

Mr. Miliband: My Department has no records of having provided capital funding with the requirement that a school be reduced in size. Most capital funding is now allocated by formula to local education authorities (LEAs) or schools for them to invest in their school buildings. Decisions on building priorities are made locally, in the context of asset management plans and reflecting Government priorities. It is, therefore, up to LEAs to decide on their priorities in consultation with local schools, including where surplus places can be reduced where it is economical to do so. Overall capital investment is set to rise from £3.8 billion this year to over £5 billion in 2005–06, compared to under £700 million in 1996–97.

Chemistry Teachers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were in training specialising in chemistry in each of the last five years. [133864]

Mr. Miliband: The information is not available in the form requested. Numbers of funded initial teacher training places are set annually by my right hon. Friend for science as a whole. The Teacher Training Agency's annual census of recruitment to initial teacher training also collects only aggregate recruitment data for science.

The table shows the number of entrants to initial teacher training courses in science since 1998/99.

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	Postgraduate	Undergraduate	Total
1998/99	2,058	221	2,279
1999/2000	2,149	213	2,362
2000/01	2,219	191	2,410
2001/02	2,444	150	2,594
2002/03	2,568	133	2,701
2003/04(14)	n/a	n/a	n/a

⁽¹⁴⁾ The data shown above excludes trainees on the Fast Track scheme and employment based teacher training.

Source:

TTA

Connexions

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 July 2003 to the hon. Member for Bristol, West (Valerie Davey), Official Report, column 141W. on Connexions, what assessment he has made of whether Connexions is offering a universal service to young people who do not fall into the Not Engaged in Education, Employment or Training category. [134109]

Margaret Hodge: All partnerships will be inspected by Ofsted on a four-yearly cycle and are required to conduct an annual self-assessment of performance based on the Ofsted inspection framework. One question in the Ofsted inspection framework focuses on the responsiveness of the Partnership to the range and diversity of young people in the area. It addresses whether the partnership has effective strategies to enable all young people to gain access to support and provision responsive to their needs. Government Offices also assess this aspect by monitoring partnerships' self-assessment. Of the 12 inspection reports so far published, eight partnerships have been rated overall as good or very good.

An independent survey of 16,000 young people comprising those with all types of need who had been in contact with Connexion services showed minimal differences in awareness of or ability to access the service. Only 12 per cent. of those requiring least intensive support disagreed with the statement, "It is easy to get hold of people at Connexions when you need to", compared with 11 per cent. of those requiring more intensive support and 13 per cent. of those requiring most intensive support. 87 per cent. of those requiring least intensive support agreed that: "Connexions helps me to see all the options available to me".

Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of people aged 13 to 19 in England were (a) being educated in a school or college and (b) not engaged in education, employment or training in the last year for which figures are available. [134111]

Mr. Miliband: Participation rates are not produced by the Department for 13 to 15-year-olds. As at January 2002, there were 1,892,259 pupils aged 13 to 15 across all schools in England. The number of 11 to 15-year-olds being educated within local education authority areas otherwise than at school was 15,390. This will include, for example, pupils being educated at home, or non-statemented pupils in hospital.

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Participation rates are available for 16 to 18-year-olds. The proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds in England that were being educated full-time in a school, college or higher education institution at end 2001 (end of calendar year) was 55.5 per cent. A further 8.9 per cent. were in part-time education.

The proportion of 16 to 18-year-olds in England not in education, employment or training at end 2001 was 9 per cent.

Citizenship Curriculum

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will require responsible consumption and its effects on the environment and society to be included within lessons on citizenship. [131451]

Mr. Miliband: The Citizenship curriculum includes teaching pupils about issues that impact on the society and the environment. Pupils are taught about the rights and responsibilities of consumers, to recognise the difference between the economic choices they can make, and how they impact on society and the environment. Many schools explore this with pupils through activities which examine the impact of consumer behaviour on other people, locally, nationally and globally.

QCA has sent detailed guidance to schools to help them to explore these issues, including a unit—'Choices' for use with 5 to 11-year-olds. Similarly, "Consumer Rights and Responsibilities" is aimed at discussions with 14 to 16-year-olds. These units are available at: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes

Mental Health

Mr. Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance his Department issues to (a) schools and teachers and (b) the Connexions Service on depression in children and young people. [134040]

Margaret Hodge: The Government are committed to promoting mental health of children and young people within schools. In June 2001, the DfES published guidance, "Promoting Children's Mental Health within Early Years and Schools Settings". The guidance is designed to help teachers and others, working alongside mental health professionals, to promote mental health and to intervene effectively with children experiencing problems. The guidance offers advice on specific mental health problems and useful approaches that schools can take. This includes emotional disorders such as depression.

The Connexions Service National Unit issued guidance, "Making a Difference—Emerging Practice—Connexions and Mental Health Services", to Connexions Partnerships in March 2003 about supporting young people with mental health problems.

Education Act (Innovation)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list schools which have

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applied for exemptions from statutory requirements relating to innovation under the Education Act 2002, giving in each case (a) the nature of the exemption sought and (b) the outcome of the application. [133941]

Mr. Miliband: The Department plans to lay before Parliament its first annual report under section 5 of the

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Education Act 2002 on 30 October 2003. The report will outline details of the three applications that the Secretary of State has received during the first academic year of the Power and will detail for each application the nature of the exemption sought and the outcome of the application. These have been:

Application	Innovation facilitated	RelevantLegislation	Details of the ordergranted by theSecretary of State	Date that theorder was made
Langley Junior School, Pendeen Crescent, Southway, Plymouth PL6 6QS	The order permitted the school to extend the length of the school day mid academic year, rather than have to wait until the beginning of the new school year. The purpose of the innovation was to provide extra curricular activities for pupils on a Wednesday afternoon freeing up time for teachers to work on planning and preparation, and drawing up education plans for individual pupils.	Changing of the School Session Times Regulations	Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 3063 Langley Junior School (Change to School Session Times) Order 2002	11 December 2002
Grinling Gibbons Primary School, Clyde Street, Deptford, London SE8 5LW	The order permitted the school to extend the length of the school day mid academic year, rather than have to wait until the beginning of the new school year. The purpose of the innovation was to provide extra curricular activities for pupils on a Wednesday afternoon freeing up time for teachers to work on planning and preparation, and drawing up education plans for individual pupils.	Changing of the School Session Times Regulations	Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 716The Grinling Gibbons Primary School (Change to School Session Times) Order 2003	12 March 2003
Norton College, Langton Road, Norton, Malton, N Yorkshire YO17 9PT	The order permitted the school to change the timings of the school day without the requirements set out in regulations: to give the minimum of three months notice to parents; and to consult parents at a meeting (instead parents were consulted by correspondence). The order facilitated the college's plan to end the school day one hour early on alternate Wednesdays from September 2003, allowing staff to have a dedicated two-hour period once a forthnight for planning, preparation, assessment, and to hold meetings.	Changing of the School Session Times Regulations	Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 1671The Norton College (Change to School Session Times) Order 2003	2 July 2003

As of 22 October 2003 two further applications have been received by the Department. These are currently being processed. Details are:

Applicant	Details of exemption, relaxation ormodification of existing educationallegislation sought	Relevant Legislation
Elloughton Primary School, Stockbridge Road, Elloughton, Brough, East Riding of Yorkshire HU15 1HN	Seeking exemption from some elements of the KS2 SATs whilst replacing them with ongoing teacher assessment procedures	The Education (National Curriculum (KS3 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2003
The Cardinal Wiseman School, Greenford Road, Greenford, Middlesex, UB6 9AW	To deliver the National Curriculum over four extended days freeing up Fridays to offer targeted activities.	The Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999

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