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29 Oct 2003 : Column 293W—continued
Learning Communities
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress in developing a strategy for learning communities. [134978]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Good progress has been made on developing the Learning Communities strategy. A community workshop has been held with front line practitioners. A project board is being established and the scoping document has been sent out to all relevant parties. Over the next few months officials will be working with Government Offices and key stakeholders to work up proposals for their regions. Testbeds will commence in April 2004
Modern Apprenticeships
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of participation of young school leavers in modern apprenticeships was in the last five years; and what percentage of the cohorts it represented. [134986]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: Participation data are collected in line with the Public Service Agreement (PSA) for modern apprenticeships which states that "By 2004, at least 28 per cent. of young people to start a Modern Apprenticeship by age 22". The technical note for this target clarifies this to mean first-time entrants to Foundation or Advanced Modern Apprenticeships by those aged 16 to 21. The outturn will be starts, defined above, during the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) academic year 2004/5 expressed as a proportion of the most recent population estimate for that cohort from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Data disaggregated into age cohorts are not routinely available.
While Modern Apprenticeships have a longer history, fit for purpose data for the PSA target have been compiled only since 2001/2:
| 2001–2 | 2002–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Modern Apprenticeship starts(percentage) | 137,000(15)(22.8 percent.) | (16)144,900(15)(23.9 per cent.) |
(15) Proportion calculated using ONS population estimates DME50 Table 4
(16) Data for 2002/3 outturn is provisional; due to be finalised by the LSC in January 2004
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Modern Language Teaching
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were in training specialising in a modern language, in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [135011]
Mr. Miliband : The following table shows the number of entrants to initial teacher training courses in secondary modern foreign languages since 1998/99.
| Postgraduate | Undergraduate | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998/99 | 1,606 | 51 | 1,657 |
| 1999/2000 | 1,431 | 38 | 1,469 |
| 2000/01 | 1,610 | 23 | 1,633 |
| 2001/02 | 1,689 | 16 | 1,705 |
| 2002/03 | 1,725 | 7 | 1,732 |
| 2003/04(17) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Note:
The data shown above excludes trainees on the Fast Track scheme in 2001/02 and employment based teacher training.
Source:
Teacher Training Agency
Nuclear and Chemical Engineering Graduates
Dr. Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many graduations in (a) nuclear and (b) chemical engineering there were in each year since 1990. [130194]
Alan Johnson: Figures for nuclear engineering are not held centrally.
The available information covering chemical engineering is in the table. Figures for 1993/94 and earlier years are not held centrally on a comparable basis.
| Academic year | Number of graduations |
|---|---|
| 2001/02 | 936 |
| 2000/01 | 980 |
| 1999/2000 | 1,046 |
| 1998/99 | 1,123 |
| 1997/98 | 1,116 |
| 1996/97 | 1,189 |
| 1995/96 | 1,221 |
| 1994/95 | 1,212 |
Sources:
Higher Education Statistics Agency
Phonics Teaching Methods
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will carry out a meta-analysis of the relative effectiveness of (a) analytic and (b) synthetic phonics teaching methods. [135021]
Mr. Miliband: The phonics seminar which the Department held in March 2003 and Professor Greg Brooks' report, published in August, have made a very significant contribution towards ensuring a clearer understanding of the research on phonics and its implications for the National Literacy Strategy. The Department is considering Professor Brooks' recommendations for additional research, which will be assessed against other research priorities.
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School Bus Services
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education authorities operate school bus services for pupils other than those with special needs. [134797]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We do not collect information about local education authority bus operations.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils in each education authority are provided with a special school bus service; and at what cost. [134798]
Mr. Charles Clarke: We do not collect information on the percentage of pupils receiving transport to special schools. In 2001/02 total LEA expenditure on home to school transport was £561 million. Of that figure, £254 million (45 per cent.) was spent on transporting children to special schools.
School Performance
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy to reduce the size of schools that perform to an above-average standard. [134838]
Mr. Miliband: The Secretary of State does not decide the size of schools. To reduce the number of places at a school, the admission authority (the local education authority for community and voluntary controlled schools, the governing body for foundation and voluntary aided schools) would have to change the school's admission arrangements, after the required consultation, so as to include a lower admission number. Other local schools or neighbouring local education authorities could object to the Schools Adjudicator if they disagreed with the new lower number. So could 10 or more local parents, if the new number is below the school's measured capacity.
Our guidance to local decision-makers on changes to school organisation makes it clear that blanket assumptions should not be made about the optimum size of a school; and that the priority must be to secure the highest standards.
School Trips (Funding)
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what weight is given to the costs of funding school trips for schools in deprived areas when the Department calculates school budgets; [135133]
- (2) whether there are (a) national and (b) local distributors of funds for schools in deprived areas seeking funding for school trips; [135134]
(3) what resources are allocated to schools in areas of high deprivation to ensure that they are able to comply with his Department's guidelines on allowing children in receipt of free school meals to attend school trips. [135135]
Mr. Miliband: The Education Funding Formula does not include a factor to specifically take account of the cost of funding school trips for schools in deprived areas. It does include a factor to take account of the
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extra costs of educating deprived pupils. The factor uses data on families in receipt of Income Support and the Working Families Tax Credit.
I am not aware of any national or local distributors of funds for schools in deprived areas seeking funding for school trips.
It is for a school's governing body to decide on the allocation of resources for school trips from the school's budget share. Regulations require that all local education authorities distribute some funding on the basis of social deprivation.
Skills Strategies
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on progress on the alignment of national, local and sectored skills strategies. [134977]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Skills Strategy "21st Century Skills—Realising our Potential", published on 9 July 2003, set a long-term agenda through to 2010. Central to the success of the strategy is ensuring that implementation is achieved in a sustained and coherent way. We have formed a national Skills Alliance, bringing together the key Government Departments with employer and union representatives and the key delivery agencies to drive forward the Skills Strategy delivery plan. At the first meeting on 14 October, the Skills Alliance agreed its terms of reference and began to identify its priorities and a forward agenda to end 2004. The members decided that its focus would be on strategic issues; monitoring progress; delivery on the ground; and ensuring collaboration between the key agencies. The Alliance intends to report on progress annually.
Specific approaches include Sector Skills Agreements, which will be designed and delivered in collaboration with the national and local Learning and Skills Councils and Regional Development Agencies to ensure that there is a coherent response to sector needs nationally, regionally and locally. We have also asked Regional Development Agencies to work with key partners, including LSCs, Jobcentre Plus and Small Business Service taking account of the needs of sectors. Together, in consultation with a wide range of other partners, they will develop proposals to establish partnerships which will ensure that employment, skills and business support priorities are addressed in an integrated way. We expect the first regional skills partnerships to be in place from April 2004.
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