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20 Nov 2003 : Column 1461W—continued
Computer Science Graduates
Mr. Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what percentage of computer science graduates remain unemployed for 12 months or more following graduation. [140344]
Alan Johnson: I am unable to provide the information requested before the House prorogues. I will write to my hon. Friend with the information and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Foster Care
Mr. Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the most recent weekly contributions made by each local authority for children in foster care up to the age of 17 were; what these contributions were in 1997 prices; what the allowances were in 1997; and what assessment he has made of the differences in payments made by local authorities. [139058]
Margaret Hodge: I am unable to provide the information requested before the House prorogues. I will write to my hon. Friend with the information and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
Day Care
Mr. Truswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications were made to Ofsted for registration of day care facilities in the last three years in (a) Leeds and (b) England; and what the average time taken to process such applications was in (i) Leeds and (ii) England in the last year for which figures are available. [131519]
Margaret Hodge: I am unable to provide the information requested before the House prorogues. I will write to my hon. Friend with the information and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
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A-levels
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils in each local education authority obtained an A-level in (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) German, (d) a modern foreign language other than French or German and (e) a classical language in the last year for which information is available; and what proportion each represented of (i) the 18-year-old cohort and (ii) the 18-year-old cohort in full-time education. [138888]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 17 November 2003]: The information requested has been placed in the Library.
Abusive Parents (Visitation Rights)
Mr. Woodward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what measures are being taken to change the system whereby abusive parents can gain visitation rights to their children; [138170]
- (2) how many children were injured during contact visits with an abusive parent in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003. [138171]
Margaret Hodge: In considering applications for contact (visitation rights) the courts apply the principle, enshrined in the Children Act 1989, that any decision must be based on what is in the child's best interest. We have amended the Children Act 1989 to extend the definition of harm to include harm to a child caused by witnessing domestic violence. We will commence this new provision as soon as resources allow. In 2001 the Government endorsed guidelines on contact and domestic violence produced by the Children Act Sub-Committee of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Board on Family Law. The guidelines have been promulgated and are being monitored and evaluated by research. I will shortly be announcing successful applicants for new supervised child contact centres, funded through joint Children's Fund/Sure Start funding. These new centres will provide safe venues where supervised contact in cases where safety is an issue can take place.
Data about the factors underpinning contact applications, such as allegations about injuries caused to children during previous contact with an allegedly violent parent, are not collected, either by the courts or centrally.
Adult and Community Education
Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on recent trends in (a) enrolment to and (b) funding of courses in adult and community education. [133420]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: I have set out separately the figures for expenditure and numbers of learners in (i) adult and community learning and adult education courses run through local education authorities; (ii) learndirect; and (iii) Skills for Life. Together these equate most closely to adult and community education.
We have used the closest match between the figures for the number of learners and those for expenditure. Where there are differences these are explained in the footnotes.
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| Funding (£ million)(91) | All enrolments (million)(92) | Former non schedule two (thousand)(93) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2000 | 145 | 1.041 | 666 |
| Nov 2001 | 153 | 1.052 | 679 |
| Nov 2002 | 183 | 1.042 | 662 |
(91)Annual expenditure, by financial year, on adult and community learning run through local education authorities. The figures for 2002–03 include the budgets for Neighbourhood Learning (£10 million) and family learning (£7.5 million).
(92)Number of enrolments as at 1 November each year in adult education courses run by local education authorities. These include both courses leading to qualifications which were, prior to 2001–02, funded by the Further Education Funding Council, and local education authority secured adult and community learning. These courses largely do not lead to formal qualifications. Enrolments are not the same as learners. Individuals on a number of courses are counted more than once.
(93)These are courses offered by local education authorities which do not lead to formal qualifications. These figures equate most closely—but not exactly—to the budgets for adult and community learning.
Source:
Enrolment data taken from the Statistical First Review, published 15 May 2003.
| Date(academic year) | Funding(£ million) | Learner numbers (thousand) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 49 | 137 |
| 2001/02 | 134 | 347 |
| 2002/03 | 171 | 485 |
| Date(academic year) | Funding(£ million) | Enrolments (thousand) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000/01 | 253 | 724 |
| 2001/02 | 259 | 1,136 |
| 2002/03 | 290 | 1,230 |
Note:
Enrolment data includes Learning and Skills Council funded learning opportunities; estimates from the Offenders' Learning and Skills Unit; and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Agriculture Courses
Mr. Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many admissions there were to agriculture courses at universities and agricultural colleges in each of the last 10 years. [134546]
Alan Johnson: I am unable to provide the information requested before the House prorogues. I will write to the hon. Gentleman with the information and place a copy of my letter in the Library.
"Building Schools for the Future"
Mr. Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will approve the bid made by the London Borough of Wandsworth under the "Building Schools for the Future" initiative. [140080]
Mr. Miliband: The London Borough of Wandsworth has submitted a proposal to be part of the first wave of "Building Schools for the Future" (BSF), starting in
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2005–06. We are assessing all proposals from local education authorities (LEAs) against the criteria set out in our guidance. We aim to announce early in the New Year which proposals will be proceeding in 2005–06 and, in March, we will announce a further, larger group of LEAs for the following years. The Government have committed itself in BSF to a long-term programme of rebuilding and renewal to ensure that secondary education in every part of England has facilities of 21st century standard.
CAFCASS
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Project Board to integrate finance, communication, human resources and case recording systems has been established by CAFCASS. [138759]
Margaret Hodge: A project was started in 2001 to develop an integrated case management system, including finance and human resources. This project was stopped as it was judged to be too high a risk. Government best practice is to reduce risk by breaking down large IT projects into smaller, more manageable, parts. Separate finance and payroll systems have now been procured by CAFCASS.
A case recording project is now under way, to implement the key information elements for case management. A Project Board, chaired by the Chief Executive is managing this work. The case recording system is being designed to be compatible with the systems in place and those to be developed.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) when CAFCASS practitioners will have the facility to amend the computerised records of the children with whom they work; [138760]
- (2) what additional resources CAFCASS has identified for the implementation of a case management system; [138761]
(3) what the planned expenditure by CAFCASS is on the small scale computerised case record index for implementation during 2004. [138762]
Margaret Hodge: In its first year, CAFCASS implemented an IT infrastructure giving all staff access to email, word processing, spreadsheet, internet and intranet facilities. By building on this infrastructure CAFCASS will be able to implement, from May 2004, a case recording system for £125,000.
This will provide a national networked case database. Maintenance of the system, including amending children's records, will be an administrative rather than a practitioner function.
The case recording system is the first stage of wider case management systems. Once the case recording system is successfully implemented, further work will be done on the options and costs for further development and implementation of the remaining aspects of case management systems support.
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