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Nursery/Primary Education
6. Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend): What progress has been made in the provision of nursery and full-time education for three to four-year-olds. [135237]
The Minister for Children (Margaret Hodge): Since 1998 all four-year-olds in England have been entitled to free part-time nursery education places. We are on course to deliver a free part-time nursery education place for every three-year-old whose parents want one by April 2004, six months ahead of our original target.
Mr. Griffiths: I thank my right hon. Friend for that very encouraging news about the provision of places in nursery and full-time education for three to four-year-olds, but what else are the Government doing to provide support services in before and after-school provision to enable the parents of those children—particularly single mothers—to play a full part in the economy?
Margaret Hodge: I acknowledge my hon. Friend's role in ensuring that we implemented our manifesto commitment to provide nursery education for all three to four-year-olds. He worked hard to achieve that, so I hope that he takes the same satisfaction as I do from the vision being translated into reality. Like him, I accept that, because of modern life and an increasing number of families having both parents at work, we must ensure that care is wrapped around nursery education to meet the needs of families and working parents. Through our children's centre programme, the funding that we are providing for out-of-school clubs and a variety of other initiatives, we are trying to ensure a safe environment in which children can enjoy themselves, further their skills and develop their potential.
Specialist Schools
8. Mr. Adrian Bailey (Blaby): What assessment he has made of the performance of specialist schools in achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE compared with the national average; and if he will make a statement. [135239]
The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband): Based on provisional data, in 2003 specialist schools averaged 56.1 per cent. of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C; the figure for non-specialist schools was 48.7 per cent. That is one of the reasons why we want every school that is ready to do so to take on the challenge of specialist status.
Mr. Bailey: I thank the Minister for his reply, and the experience that he outlines has certainly been reflected in my constituency. Wood Green high school in Wednesbury has doubled the number of pupils achieving five GCSEs at grade C or above in the past five years. The problem, however, is that I want to see more. In the light of the fact that the raising of sponsorship money can constitute a block on aspiring schools, will the Minister say how many schools have tried to access money from the partnership fund in order to achieve specialist status?
Mr. Miliband: Members on both sides of the House have pointed out over several years that the sponsorship requirement is quite significant, which is why we have introduced the partnership fund. Some £3 million a year is available to schools that have attempted to reach out to local businesses, but which have not reached the £50,000 limit. We will announce the full list of new specialist schools in January, but I can tell my hon. Friend that more than 100 schools have successfully applied for the partnership fund, which is beginning to bridge the gap in communities that struggle to meet the sponsorship requirement.
Mr. George Osborne (Tatton): Given that the Minister is a very generous man, will he look kindly on Knutsford high school's application for the new humanities specialism, and join me in encouraging the local community and local businesses to contribute to the sponsorship, so that it may not need to ask the Government for money?
Mr. Miliband: If the hon. Gentleman carries on like that, he will end my political career in one fell swoop. As he knows, Knutsford high school's application for specialist status is a matter close to my heart; indeed, he wrote to me last year about its applying for multiple specialisms. I wrote back to explain that that was not possible, but I very much look forward to its application for the humanities specialism.
Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield): How many specialist schools are making use of their ability to select 10 per cent. of pupils on aptitude, and what is the difference between ability and aptitude, in terms of selection?
Mr. Miliband: The figures show that less than 6 per cent. of specialist schools select on the basis of aptitude.
They are allowed to do so in subjects such as music and sport, and although practising can help to improve ability, aptitude comes naturally in such subjects. I was pleased to learn that the adjudicator recently said that the tests available for aptitude are appropriate.
Mr. Graham Brady (Altrincham and Sale, West): We Conservatives welcome and endorse the success of specialist schools, but does the Minister accept that one of the most successful specialisms is that of specialising in academic excellence? Figures that he gave me earlier this year show that the chances of schools in selective education authority areas achieving GCSE grades of A* to A are almost double that of those in comprehensive education authority areas. Will he further endorse what the Prime Minister said on 16 July—that the Government have never closed grammar schools and that no grammar school will close without the specific approval of parents in a ballot? Will he confirm that that applies to parents and grammar schools in Gloucestershire that currently face the threat of closure? Will no grammar school there close without specific approval in a parental ballot?
Mr. Miliband: There we have it—it is a new day and there is to be a new leader, but it is the same old Tories. Every single question about education that the hon. Gentleman asks comes back to grammar schools. He is obsessed with the interests of the few and happy to condemn two-thirds or three-quarters of young people to second-class education. We are not willing to do that.
School Funding
10. David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire): What assessment he has made of the impact of the 2003–04 grant settlement on (a) staff numbers and (b) standards in schools in north-west Leicestershire; and if he will make a statement. [135241]
The Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr. Charles Clarke): I acknowledge the funding difficulties that schools in some areas have experienced this year. My Department collects statistics on teacher numbers, vacancies and support staff numbers each January, and the provisional results are published in the spring. The measures that I announced yesterday are designed to deliver stability in school budgets over the next two years. Local education authorities and schools should now work together to ensure that the resources made available for schools are used effectively to achieve the highest possible standards of education.
David Taylor : Although the Government have a good track record on education between 1997 and 2003, the new formula spending share cements Leicestershire firmly at the foot of the funding league table—5 per cent. adrift of our neighbours, 6 per cent. adrift of the average county and 13 per cent. adrift of the national average. The Secretary of State's statement yesterday on funding for 2004–06 was welcome, but will he see me as a matter of urgency to discuss the clear, present and severe difficulties that some of north-west Leicestershire's schools are having in maintaining staffing numbers and
high educational standards in a cash-strapped local education authority? The envisaged level of transitional grant will, I fear, be seriously inadequate.
Mr. Clarke: I am happy to meet my hon. Friend—indeed, I met an all-party delegation from Leicestershire some months ago—but I hope that he will acknowledge that the targeted transitional grant of £3.7 million estimated for stage 2 in Leicestershire amounts to a significant change that will allow us to move forward. I hope that he will also acknowledge the responsibility of the local education authority in Leicestershire to discuss with schools, including those in my hon. Friend's constituency, the best way of maintaining precisely the sort of educational progress that he describes.
Foundation Degrees
14. Dr. Brian Iddon (Bolton, South-East): What employer involvement there is in developing the curriculum of foundation degrees; and if he will make a statement. [135245]
The Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education (Alan Johnson): Employer engagement was set out as a core feature of foundation degrees in the July 2000 prospectus. Employers' involvement in design and development is illustrated in "Foundation Degrees: Meeting the need for higher level skills", which was published on 7 October. The Higher Education Funding Council for England recently invited bids for 10,000 new foundation degree places for 2004–05, asking for bids to be developed with employers, sector skills councils and professional bodies. We hope that employers will take this opportunity to develop courses that address their skills needs.
Dr. Iddon : Do the Government consider that a foundation degree should be a bridge between poor educational qualifications and higher qualifications such as an honours or joint honours degree? If they view it in that way, will the curriculum be written so that progression can occur, and how many extra years would a foundation degree student be expected to study to achieve the further qualification? Have the Government considered the financial barriers that might prevent such students from making that progression?
Alan Johnson: I can confirm that that is precisely our objective. In accordance with the Dearing recommendations, which said that the sub-degree level was extremely important, foundation degrees should be a stepping stone for those who want to take it. However, it is important to recognise that foundation degrees are an important qualification and that we must break down the prejudice in this country in respect of academic and vocational qualifications. The simple answer is that if people add a year to their foundation degrees, they can go for an honours degree. A large proportion of the first cohort to come through with their foundation degrees, which have been in operation only for two years, are choosing to go on to take that third year. Overall, foundation degrees have been an enormous success, which is reflected in the 118 per cent. increase in applications this year.
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