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27 Oct 2003 : Column 84W—continued

PGCE (Foreign Languages)

Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) places and (b) entrants for the modern foreign languages Post Graduate Certificate in Education course there were in each year since 1995; and if he will make a statement on the number of teachers trained to teach modern foreign languages at primary school level. [133827]

Mr. Miliband: The table shows the number of entrants to Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses in modern languages and the number of places allocated to institutions in England by the Teacher Training Agency since 1995/96.

PlacesEntrants(17)
1995/961,9801,722
1996/972,1281,673
1997/982,2391,732
1998/992,1611,606
1999/20001,9861,431
2000/011,9611,610
2001/022,0061,689
2002/031,9291,725
2003/04(18)2,014n/a

(17) Does not include trainees on the Fast Track scheme and trainees on the Graduate Teacher Programme.

(18) The number of entrants to initial teacher training in 2003/04 is not yet available.

Source:

TTA


No data are available on the numbers of teachers trained to teach modern languages at primary school level who are currently in service.

Residential Care (Children)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were in residential care in (a) England and (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last two years. [134051]

Margaret Hodge: The latest information available on looked after children in residential care in (a) England and (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire is shown in the table.

Number of children in residential care(19) in England and the East Riding of Yorkshire at 31 March 2001 and 2002(20)

20012002
England8,5008,600
East Riding of Yorkshire3530

(19) Includes secure units, children's homes and hostels, residential schools and other residential settings

(20) All data are rounded—national figures to the nearest 100 and local authority figures to the nearest 5


Rural Schools

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what has been spent since 1997 on projects to increase standards in rural schools. [133695]

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Mr. Ivan Lewis: Aggregated data on funding to increase standards in rural schools is not collected in the form requested. Funding is focused on improving standards in all schools, irrespective of whether they are based in rural or urban areas.

Specific contributions to rural schools have included some £56 million of funding for rural Excellence Clusters and rural Education Action Zones. Many rural schools are small schools and benefited from the small schools fund which was set up in 2001. The Education Formula Spending system includes a sparsity element to reflect the fact that rural and other sparsely populated areas face extra costs in providing a common standard of service.

School Companies

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what approaches have been made to his Department regarding the establishment of school companies. [133938]

Mr. Miliband: The Department has received many enquiries about school companies from school staff, LEAs and solicitors, and has accepted a number of invitations to address seminars. Information is not collected about the number and nature of specific inquiries.

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the school companies which have been established under the Education Act 2002. [133939]

Mr. Miliband: No notification of the establishment of a school company, as required by Regulation 25 of The School Companies Regulations 2002 and Regulation 17 of The School Companies (Private Finance Initiative Companies) Regulations 2002 has yet been received.

School Funding

Sir Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will make a statement on the future payment of educational transitional funds to Worcestershire county council. [134585]

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) if he will take measures to compensate Hampshire schools for the loss of grant in 2004–05 and 2005–06; [134670]

Mr. Miliband: In his statement to the House on 17 July, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State outlined the initial steps he is taking to respond to the practical concerns raised about the present system of funding schools, and promised a further report in the autumn. He expects to make that report shortly.

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the funding increase is (a) in money terms and (b) as a percentage on 2002–03 for Hampshire schools this year, without transitional protection. [134669]

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Mr. Miliband: The increase in Education Formula Spending in Hampshire between 2002–03 and 2003–04 was £60.3 million, or 11.6 per cent. This increase includes transfer of Nursery Education and class size grants and funding in respect of the increase in teachers' pension contributions into EFS for 2003–04.

Schools (Earned Autonomy)

Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list schools which have applied for earned autonomy under the Education Act 2002, indicating in each case (a) the project covered by the application and (b) the outcome of the application. [133940]

Mr. Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Ashford (Mr. Green) on Earned Autonomy on 23 September 2003.

Sector Skills Council Boundaries

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his Answer of 17 September, reference 129985 what plans he has to harmonise reporting of work-based participation and success rates with sector skills council boundaries. [131571]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Mark Haysom the Council's Chief Executive will write to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Sixth Forms

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have (a) opened and (b) closed sixth forms since 1997. [133693]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: Since 1997 73 new school sixth forms have opened and 26 school sixth forms have closed.

Skills Councils

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which sector skills councils are (a) licensed, (b) due to be licensed by 31st December and (c) due to be licensed by 30 June 2004. [133422]

Mr. Ivan Lewis :We are making good progress in setting up Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). I expect the network of around 25 SSCs will be in place by summer 2004, as outlined in the recently published White Paper, '21st Century Skills. Realising Our Potential.' Between April and October this year, four SSCs have been awarded full five year licenses to operate. They are e-skills UK covering IT, Telecommunications and Contact Centres; SEMTA covering Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies; ConstructionSkills covering Construction and Skills Active UK covering Active Leisure and Learning. A total of nine are expected to be licensed by the end of this year. Plans are well advanced to licence a further 16 SSCs including the five trailblazer SSCs by summer 2004.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of the total UK work force will be covered by each proposed sector skills council. [133423]

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Mr. Ivan Lewis: There are currently four SSCs that have been awarded full five year licences to operate. Together they cover approximately 20 per cent. of the UK workforce. It is expected that the full network of around 25 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) will be in place by Summer 2004 as outlined in the recently published White Paper, '21st Century Skills. Realising Our Potential'. This will provide a total coverage of up to 75 per cent. of the workforce. This is expected to rise to 85 per cent. over the next three years as the SSDA continues to work with other sectors to put in place suitable arrangements for engagement with the Skills for Business Network.

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which sector skills council will have a remit for careers advice and guidance services. [133425]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: It is within the remit of each individual Sector Skills Council (SSC) to provide specific careers information for jobs in their sector. The former Employment National Training Organisation (ENTO) currently has stewardship of occupational standards for advice and guidance. No formal decisions have yet been taken on which SSC will represent careers advice and guidance employer interests in the Skills for Business Network.


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