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EDUCATION AND SKILLS
School Behaviour and Attendance Funding
Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in each local education authority area received behaviour and attendance funding in the current financial year; and what the total funding made available in the current financial year under the programme was in each local education authority area. [145433]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The behaviour and attendance strand of our Key Stage 3 Strategy provides audit and training materials and expert advice. These are freely available to all secondary schools. In addition, our Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) funds a range of measures to support schools in disadvantaged areas facing the greatest challenges. 60 BIP local education authorities (LEAs) are each receiving about 1.4 million in the current financial year to fund these measures. Individual LEAs and Excellence in Cities partnerships
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decide which measures to adopt and which schools to involve in the light of local needs. They give priority to a core group of schools, typically four secondary schools and about 20 linked primary schools in an LEA. But in many LEAs other schools also benefit from BIP measures, which include multi-agency Behaviour and Education Support Teams and extra Learning Support Units, Learning Mentors and Education Welfare Officers as well as locally-devised initiatives.
Child Poverty
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many children in (a) England and (b) Wales lived in poverty in (i) 2001–02 and (ii) 2002–03; [145659]
- (2) what definition he uses of child poverty. [145660]
Mr. Pond: I have been asked to reply.
Poverty and social exclusion are complex and multi-dimensional issues, affecting many aspects of peoples' lives, including their living standards, health, housing, the quality of their environment and not just low income. The fifth annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 5956) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress
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against this strategy. The Welsh Assembly also publish their own annual report on poverty and social exclusion, the latest of which is 'The Third annual report on social inclusion in Wales'.
Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in 'Households Below Average Income 1994/95 to 2001/02'; data are not yet available for 2003–03.
'Measuring child poverty', published in December 2003, outlines the Government's measure of UK child poverty for the long-term; this new measure will begin from 2004/05.
All publications listed are available in the Library.
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) enrolments and (b) graduations there were in each of the last three years in Cambridgeshire further education colleges in (i) construction, (ii) computing, (iii) software engineering, (iv) electronics, (v) manufacturing engineering and (vi) hospitality, catering and tourism. [146442]
Alan Johnson: In the last three years, there were no learners enrolled on Software Engineering courses at further education colleges in Cambridgeshire. The number of enrolments on courses in the other subject areas requested, and the number of qualifications achieved in those subjects, are shown in the table.
| 1999–2000 | 2000–2001 | 2001–2002 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject Area | Enrolments | Achievements | Enrolments | Achievements | Enrolments | Achievements |
| Construction | 780 | 590 | 850 | 710 | 920 | 290 |
| Computing | 8,580 | 5,040 | 9,190 | 6,760 | 9,140 | 3260 |
| Electronics | 90 | 40 | 100 | 20 | 190 | 160 |
| Manufacturing Engineering | 180 | 150 | 210 | 160 | 70 | 30 |
| Hospitality, Catering and Tourism | 5,130 | 770 | 5940 | 1,770 | 5,460 | 4710 |
Source:
Individualised Student Record
Further Education
Mr. Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of 16 to 18 year olds in Huntingdon (a) started further education courses and (b) completed such courses in each year since 1999. [146437]
Alan Johnson: Data on the percentage of students participating in post-compulsory education are not calculated for areas smaller than Local Education Authorities (LEAs) as reliable estimates cannot be made. Furthermore, participation rates at sub-national level are only available for 16 and 17 year olds. The percentage of 16 and 17 year olds participating in full-time education and in education and training in Cambridgeshire LEA for end 1998 to end 2000, the latest available year, is shown in the table.
| Year | Full-time education (percentage) | Total education and training(8)(percentage) |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 65 | 76 |
| 1999 | 67 | 77 |
| 2000 | 66 | 76 |
(8) Includes participation in full-time education, part-time education and government supported training
Source:
DfES Statistical Bulletin, published 16 December 2002.
Completion (retention) rates are only available for Learning and Skills Council (LSC) funded learners at further education and sixth form colleges. The proportion of courses studied for at colleges in Cambridgeshire by 16–18 year olds that were completed in the three years to 2001/02 is shown in the table.
| Expected end year | Retention rate (percentage) |
|---|---|
| 19992000 | 82 |
| 2000–01 | 83 |
| 2001–02 | 86 |
Source:
Individualised Student Record
School Funding
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list for each programme funded by the Department for (a) primary schools and
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(b) secondary schools introduced in each year since 1997 the funding available in the year the programme started and in each subsequent year; and whether at the end of the life of each programme it was expected that the school would continue to fund that programme. [145613]
Mr. Charles Clarke [holding answer 5 January 2004]: It is not possible to answer the Question in precisely the way it has been asked. Table 3.2 of the Department's Annual Report sets out the Departmental funding for schools since 1997 and that shows an increase from less than £2 billion in 1998 to almost £9 billion this year. A copy of the Report has been placed in the Library. However, most programmes were not specifically for particular types of schools and local education authorities were free to distribute the grants between schools in their areas.
In 2003–04, the Department stopped paying grant for programmes which were worth £800 million in 2002–03 as part of our commitment to reduce ringfenced funding for schools. However much of this funding relates to time-limited courses that had run their course. Having regard to the £250 million headroom between the £2.7 billion increase in general funding for schools which took account of the overall pressures on schools, including the £800 million grant reduction, we intended that each school should choose for itself whether to continue the programmes previously supported through specific grant.
Over the next two years, we have announced that we will be making available additional non-ringfenced resources to reverse the reductions in the Standards Fund which were previously planned. For 2004–05, schools will generally receive a 4 per cent. cash increase on this year's Standards Fund allocation so there should be no reason for any school to decide on financial rather than educational grounds not to continue a particular programme. In total I am making an additional £820 million extra available over the years 2004/05 and 2005/06.
School Leavers
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children left school in 2002–03 without a GCSE pass. [145663]
Mr. Miliband: The provisional figures for 2002/03 show that 5.4 per cent., or 33,506 pupils aged 15, failed to achieve a GCSE or GNVQ equivalent pass.
School Trips
Mr. Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will assess the (a) educational and (b) social benefits for pupils from low income backgrounds of taking part in school trips; and if he will take steps to provide specific funding for such trips. [145526]
Mr. Miliband: My Department recognises the benefits of educational visits for all pupils. Such visits which take place during term time are available to all maintained school pupils, regardless of the parental income.
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